Remember Your To Do List
The task of keeping a to-do list can be boring and many people get distracted and forget what is actually on their list. Here are some ways that you can make your to-do list more fun, organized, and memorable.
Contents
Steps
- Categorize your to-do tasks. Determine which of them are small (up to 30 minutes), medium (30-60 minutes), large (1-2 hours), extra large (over 2 hours), and divisible (tasks that you do not do all in one sitting, i.e. laundry).
- Group your to-do tasks by where they take place.
- Kitchen: Mop floor, Have Fun While Washing Dishes, and/or clean the stove.
- Bathroom:Scrub toilet, Clean counter surface, Scrub tub/shower, Mop floor.
- Assign a different room to each day of the week. (Monday - Kitchen, Tuesday - Bathroom, etc.)
- Write a Day Plan the night before. Do not stray from your schedule. (0900-0915: Clean Litterbox; 0915-0930: Scrub toilet; 0930-0945: Empty dishwasher; 0945-1000: Take a break)
- Make a chores grid on grid paper or on Microsoft Excel. Across the top, number from 1-30 (or 28, or 31, depending on the number of days in the month). Down the left side list your regular chores, grouping them together by the frequency that they need to be done. (For example, a list might look like this: Daily: Dishes, Feed the cat, Clean the litterbox; Twice Weekly: Scrub the toilets- M/F, Vacuum- T/Sa; Weekly: Laundry- W, Recycling Out- F, Trash Out- F; Twice Monthly: Change Sheets on Beds- 15/30th; Monthly: Test Smoke Detectors- 1st, Clean Fridge- 20th.) As you complete tasks, draw an X in the box under the date that you complete it, in the row of the task that you completed.
- Hang a white board (dry erase board) in an easily accessible location and use different colored markers to write tasks of different importance.
- Post your To-Do List on a bright background so that it catches your eye.(construction paper, poster board, a brightly painted wall)
- If you aren't too concerned about what order you do your tasks in, write each task on a slip of paper, fold them, and then put all the slips in a bowl. Draw one slip and do whatever task is on the slip. You can use different colors of paper for different sized tasks so that if you know that you only have 15 minutes to complete something, (for example) you can draw a green slip with a small task on it.
- Make a list on your computer, either in a Word document or a website. (i.e.: http://www.evernote.com )
Tips
- Do all of your out-and-about tasks early in the day and early in the week to get them out of the way and to save time.
- Make sure to schedule time for breaks and meals so that you have some time to rest.
- If you make a chores grid, and more than one person may be doing the chores on the list, you can each write your initials rather than an X so that you can see who is doing their share or completing their assigned chores.
- Pick a day each week to do only necessary tasks and spend the remainder of the time on an extra large task.
- Pick one day each month to do nothing (this includes the dishes) and just allow yourself to do whatever you want. Write this on the calendar and stick to it. Use disposable dishes and utensils and order food to be delivered or pick up some pre-made food.
- If you have spare time to get some of tomorrow's tasks done, why not? Especially if you have lots to do. Or, use the time to chip away at an extra-large task.
- You can highlight the grid squares for when tasks are to be completed so that you can better track what you need to do on any given day. In the example above, you would highlight all Mondays and Fridays in the "scrub toilets" row, all Wednesdays in the laundry row, the 15th and 30th in the change sheets row, and the Test smoke detectors row on the 1st. Mark the day off once you have completed the task.
- Make sure to schedule tasks evenly through the week, so you aren't going crazy on Monday and bored on Tuesday.
- If you have to set up an appointment, try for morning appointments early in the week. Most people will set up appointments for over their lunch break, or late in the day so they can leave work early. Plus, whoever you are meeting will be focused on you rather than getting out for their own lunch or going home at the end of the day.
Warnings
- It may take a while to get used to any of these methods. Try each for at least a month if possible.
- Do not stress if you don't get something done. These lists are fluid and can be changed.
