http://unclutterer.com/discuss/tags/lists The community for people interested in home and office organizing. en-US Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:15:12 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q http://unclutterer.com/discuss/search.php http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/what-is-on-your-to-do-list/page/2#post-44570 Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:42:21 +0000 shebolt 44570@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>@Jude2004: I'm a little late but thanks for the additional explanation. Your method makes sense now. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/what-is-on-your-to-do-list/page/2#post-44551 Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:33:11 +0000 Anita 44551@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>Candy said it well - I think we all adapt our to do lists to fit the way we live and the amount of organization and structure we feel the need for. </p> <p>My life is fairly hectic at the moment: I have no kids, but I work full-time, I'm setting up a business which I plan to make into my full-time occupation as of the summer, I'm furthering my photography business on the side which I am hoping will be a source of additional income, I teach a couple of dance classes, I recently started writing a few articles for a collaborative blog in addition to keeping up my own, and I'm trying to get back into running and a regular fitness routine. Oh and I also have a boyfriend, two cats to look after, an apartment to maintain and a backlog of craft projects to finish, with various deadlines. </p> <p>I have several kinds of "to do" lists. At the start of this year, I made up a chart of monthly goals; rather than have one master list, I broke it down into Photography, Business, Finance/Budget, Health/Fitness and Personal/Other. For each month, I have one or two major tasks or goals in each category. This is my "big picture" plan that keeps me focused and prevents me from getting side-tracked - for instance, I planned to renew my passport in February, so I can't use that as an excuse to procrastinate or put off another task in January. </p> <p>A second to do list is in my Moleskine weekly planner. At the top of each week, I have a short list of things to do that week that are not tied to a specific day - such as "order more cheques" (whenever I happen to walk by the bank that week). Then I also have tasks assigned to specific days as well as appointments, events etc.</p> <p>Finally, I have my daily to do lists. These are written on a post-it note or a scrap piece of paper, just to get me organized for the day, and they are usually ordered according to whatever logic applies that day.</p> <p>So there it is. Might be a little much for some people, but it keeps me on track. I'm involved in a lot of stuff at once (and I've cut down!), but apart from my day job (which is slowly being uncluttered), I love everything I do, and would not give any of it up easily. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/what-is-on-your-to-do-list/page/2#post-44549 Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:33:45 +0000 sleepykitten 44549@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>Ella - not OCD at all! :) </p> <p>I have experimented with similar systems for daily tasks, but I am realizing that I have to start small and slowly build up. I used to have 10 tasks a day and NONE of them EVER got stars - now I have four things a day and I am hitting the mark about 50% of the time. So I want to make sure I get good at my four top priorities and then start adding other things in. Though sometimes I wonder if I should just try again with the longer list...since so many of those things were also important...maybe next week. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/new-herewith-questions/page/2#post-44515 Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:40:32 +0000 LabbieLady 44515@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>Thanks, Bandicoot! My daughtr is doing OK...Yesterday was an awful day, but today has been much, much better! :-) </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/what-is-on-your-to-do-list/page/2#post-44504 Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:21:34 +0000 Ella 44504@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>I'm all pencil and paper. I keep my weekly to-do list in a notebook. The fold-out cover flap holds my daily to-do list on a pad of big lined Post-its with plenty of room to add notes alongside the tasks, such as phone numbers. I write a new weekly list on a new page, and from it I extract the daily list on a new lined Post-it each day.</p> <p>However, six weeks ago, I started doing something extra, which you all might think is a tad weird and OCD but it's working for me...</p> <p>I made 3 xeroxed charts of routine daily tasks for 3 categories: 1) health and grooming; 2) housekeeping; 3) upkeep with paperwork and computer. </p> <p>Each chart has 9 star boxes for each day, for a total of 27 daily tasks. As I complete each task, I put a star sticker in its corresponding box. It's a game to see if I can fill up all the boxes with stars. :) </p> <p>Three sample tasks for health and grooming are:<br /> get up by 7am... floss twice daily... go out for a walk.<br /> Sample tasks for housekeeping are:<br /> make bed... clean litter box... swish and swipe toilet and bathroom sink.<br /> Sample tasks for paper and computer are:<br /> read one research blog... delete 10 old emails... process the day's postal mail.</p> <p>At the end of the week, I total up the number of stars and give myself a grade (ABC) based on the percentage of tasks completed. For the next week, I set a goal to beat the previous week's grade. At a glance, I can see which boxes are often empty, meaning I'm having difficulty with that task for some reason. This helps me find a better way to approach that task to make it easier to succeed. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/what-is-on-your-to-do-list/page/2#post-44479 Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:22:35 +0000 lottielot 44479@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>Lol, Joless! Maybe you could use a separate app for the 'would be nice' stuff and keep Teux Deux for the urgent and deadline things? I like to have 'should do some day' and 'would be nice' written down somewhere so it doesn't vanish out of my mind, but those don't belong with everyday to dos. I like Springpad because it's simple and you can keep stuff in little folders, you can put tasks or notes on and it's easy to have links and webpages for later referral. It doesn't work so well for me, I stick a little list in my diary when I have lots to do. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/what-is-on-your-to-do-list/page/2#post-44458 Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:58:48 +0000 Joless 44458@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>I write long to-do lists on TeuxDeux on my iPhone, and then mostly ignore them :-( I think my main problem is not dividing the lists into 'important/urgent' and 'I'd like to do this sometime' type tasks. Every so often I start fresh and resolve to just write down urgent type tasks but it always ends up being a repository of 'that would be nice to get done' tasks. </p> <p>I am not very busy so I procrastinate on things and don't get them done, and then I realise they really weren't that important anyway. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/new-herewith-questions/page/2#post-44445 Thu, 19 Jan 2012 01:49:11 +0000 bandicoot 44445@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>your daughter has been on my mind, paige.<br /> i am sending healing thoughts, and hope that the worst is behind her. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/new-herewith-questions#post-44443 Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:53:33 +0000 JayEff 44443@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>Paige,</p> <p>First and foremost, cut yourself some slack as you deal with the situations involving your daughter, dog, etc.</p> <p>I keep a master to do list in gmail tasks. It is not terribly organized and includes long and short term things to do. I review it regularly and copy onto a piece of paper (any paper) the things that I REALLY intend to do in the next couple of days. (Sometimes, I print out the list and circle the things I REALLY intend to do.)</p> <p>Because the master list is electronic, I do not worry about losing it. Because the list of things I really intend to do is on paper that is in my pocket, I have a good chance of doing those things.</p> <p>Best of luck to you. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/what-is-on-your-to-do-list/page/2#post-44441 Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:39:28 +0000 celebkiriedhel 44441@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>Daily to do lists...</p> <p>I make my own diary from a notebook - on one page there's a to do list, on the opposite page are all the dates for the month. For 'whenever' tasks there's an in-built 'complete by the end of the month' deadline. When I was younger and did more, it was a weekly page. But now I'm old, it's monthly. If I don't write it down - I don't get it done. It's as simple as that for me.</p> <p>I also have a calendar that is right in front of me when I sit at the PC, where my meetings go on. This is duplicated from my diary - but again, if I don't have it there, I miss it and end up not going. Looking at January - it's mostly doctor's appointments.</p> <p>I think system-wise for to-do lists, it's about finding the system that works for you. I tried the keeping it on the phone - but found that apart from when the phone beeps at me, I miss it. For others that works perfectly and the notebook is the problem.</p> <p>I use outlook at work, because that's what our company uses. I still manage to completely miss appointments on that if I haven't put it in my diary.</p> <p>Shrugs. Horses for courses, I've never really believed that there is a right way and a wrong way to do this stuff. The hard bit is finding 'my' way that works best for me. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/what-is-on-your-to-do-list/page/2#post-44434 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 23:03:32 +0000 bandicoot 44434@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>i don't have huge to do lists.....i keep hours and hours free each day for contemplation, reading, cups of tea, talking to my husband, playing with the cats, reading.<br /> as things come up, they are mostly dealt with right away, and this prevents them going on a list.<br /> i keep a few lists in evernote, things like:<br /> packing lists<br /> recommended movies and books<br /> recipes<br /> grocery shopping lists</p> <p>for work, my habit is to write an 86 list (things we need to order), and a list of things we need to make, and a list of orders we need to pack, on my whiteboard.....then i take a photo of that with my iphone and save it to evernote for reference when i am in the office.<br /> the workshop and office are separated by a fifty metre walk, and there is no phone between them. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/what-is-on-your-to-do-list/page/2#post-44416 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:40:39 +0000 snosie 44416@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>@shebolt - Not that what you said IS revolutionary, but for me it is. I need a list of people's names who I am waiting on, so when they call I know WHY (without being all 'why are you calling?'). And it gets me 'off to hook' about not actively doing anything for said job. Ok maybe not, but in some cases, it might.</p> <p>I have multiple lists, namely water polo &amp; personal, and then work on a blotter here, which sort of ties with the notes against each project on my time sheet (which only I see). The work stuff never/seldom stresses or has imminent deadlines. Water polo management and personal sometimes get merged, sometime split, depending of level of 'overwhlemingness'! Some things I can only fix at the pool, twice weekly, others are 'computer' stuff, so I write them on the list AT the pool... All lists are in one book, and then some lists on the newly acquired phone. Phone stuff is when I don't have book (occassionally...), and things like 'books to check out', 'things to report' etc</p> <p>I have a list in my pantry of my house plans, things I want fixed, sorted, done. No deadlines, but it gives me something to work on. And one or two become 'important' and transfer onto the personal to do lists, to start booking people for quotes etc.</p> <p>Just got to swede's comment - I agree - when I'm stressed a list helps, and ticking things off, a little more. My boarding mistress used to say 'it's a big pile of stuff that's making you sad/stressed, pick one thing and put it where it belong etc til your pile is smaller' and that's pretty much how I work to get out of a stressed out funk!</p> <p>I do flick through my agenda/journal/list book, and tick off things FINALLY done from old lists. When starting a new list, I transfer old stuff that's not done. So seldom are things forgotten. Occasionally something's deemed not needed (so it gets a cross, not a tick)<br /> Stella, I think some people like to have their 'to do list ' cleared, or at least things leaving it/being struck off. I know I'm like that - something lingers too long, it bugs me. Either I want to do it/get it done, or I don't! Like me, I sometimes wonder how I'm not 'busy' and others are (other times though, I do feel super busy, but more often I'm not)</p> <p>Sorry for the long post, I love lists! </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/what-is-on-your-to-do-list/page/2#post-44408 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:39:01 +0000 pkilmain 44408@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>I've been using one notebook for everything here in Hawaii, and it's working well. At home I have a datebook which I keep with my meds so I grab it every morning to check what I'm supposed to do or accomplish. We also keep a family which duplicates all the appointments and occasions (birthdays, etc) from both our datebooks, and we update it and go over with each other every Sunday morning. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/what-is-on-your-to-do-list/page/2#post-44405 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:19:37 +0000 sleepykitten 44405@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>Jennifer and others,</p> <p>I sometimes run into the problem of multiple notebooks (i.e., which notebook was I just using to jot down notes from a meeting?) Reading this thread, I think I should probably get rid of every piece of scratch paper except for one notebook - sounds so much simpler! </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/what-is-on-your-to-do-list/page/2#post-44404 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:43:23 +0000 Jennifer 44404@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>This is for my single, no kids, 60-70 hours of work per week life.</p> <p>I live at work, literally, and the cross-over is constant. I use my Outlook calendar for appointments, meetings, conference calls, etc. Also record work related things such as veterinary calls, horses moving. You can categorize things in Outlook, so personal items have one color, horse health another, meetings another - altogether 8 different categories for me.</p> <p>For other tasks I use the Task function in Outlook also. Easy to add recurring ones such as weekly/monthly/quarterly reports. One-offs I just type in, and they turn red if I pass the due date without completing them, so that's helpful.</p> <p>Outlook is a beast, but it's the software I need to use for work anyway, and I don't want to schedule my life in two places by trying to use something else also.</p> <p>For paper, I use **ONE** coil notebook, until it's full. I had a bad habit of scribbling on random bits of paper and then losing that important phone number or whatever. So I write everything in there. When it's full I hang onto it for a period of time, then it gets recycled. Grocery or errand lists I just tear out and take with me shopping.</p> <p>I don't have a smartphone, so I don't have to sync anything. Been contemplating getting one, but likely not for awhile as I am watching my pennies. :-)</p> <p>Also have a notepad and pen on my bedside table for those random falling asleep items. If I scribble something there, I take the page to my desk in the morning and write it in the *real* book, assuming I can read what it says! </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/what-is-on-your-to-do-list/page/2#post-44396 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:32:47 +0000 Swede 44396@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>I only write to do-lists when I'm feeling stressed. Stress makes me forget pretty much.. everything. :)</p> <p>I keep mine on a post it note in the book I'm currently reading. There is a lot to do when you've been living in 3 countries in 6 years and finally move back home (I guess that makes it 4 countries?). I've been using up old notebooks and scrap paper but tend to lose them so post its work best right now. Unfortunately I have accidentally donated a few to do-lists when I've dropped things off for charity. Haha.</p> <p>Five examples of stuff on my list right now:<br /> - Take up black jeans.<br /> - Ask my sis abt her old phone.<br /> - Send pics of the cats to the shelter.<br /> - Rip the last cd's.<br /> - Talk to ex bosses friend about tiling the kitchen.</p> <p>It's more a reminder bc when I get home from work (and an hours commute) my mind seems to be blank. :) Stuff normally get done within a week or so. When the post it is scribbled full I get a new one. I normally have to transfer two or three items to the new list. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/what-is-on-your-to-do-list/page/2#post-44385 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:06:44 +0000 Charity 44385@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>With children, lists get a lot longer, especially with more than one, and school too. So my list for tomorrow, for example, includes attending a meeting at DD's school, buying a birthday present and card for DS's friend, taking DD to Brownies (Girl Scouts) and supervising her violin practice, none of which are daily items so need to be written down for me to keep track of everything. Non-urgent tasks include writing and delivering the invites for DD's forthcoming birthday party, investigating and ordering guest gifts for DS's forthcoming party (am thinking sticker books), sewing swimming badges onto DD's "achievement blanket", sorting through and decluttering 4 boxes of outgrown clothes, ordering a new tennis outfit for DD, booking a summer day camp, finding new PJs for rapidly-growing DS, and so on and so on. Those items go onto my daily list only when I think I'll have time to accomplish them. My kids are coming up to 7 and 4, and I can only see the lists getting longer and longer in the future! Babies and toddlers are hard work, for sure, but their needs are simpler. </p> <p>Oh to only have to worry about my own needs. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/what-is-on-your-to-do-list/page/2#post-44383 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:53:26 +0000 Jude2004 44383@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>With exercise, the 15 minutes is an approximation. My fitness goal is to walk/run 3 miles a day. If I'm walking the dog, that can take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, but it's more like a warm-up than a workout because she likes to stop and start. Usually that means I still need to get in 3 miles. On a day like today, where I'm not working outside the home, I hop on the stairclimber when exercise comes up. Sometimes I feel like getting the workout finished, so I do it all at once; sometimes I just do 15 or 20 minutes. Because of the stairclimber, I can multi-task with reading or watching something on my Kindle Fire. I almost always read non-fiction, so it's more palatable to break it up into smaller chunks, and continuity doesn't matter. By randomizing it, I get myself to read books I've put off reading. I read the two chosen books until I finish 5% or 1 chapter, but if I don't finish them, they go back on the shelf at the end of the day until I randomly select them again. </p> <p>And yes, I do constantly change tasks because I get bored doing the same thing, especially if it's cleaning--yuck. It works for my brain, because I never get bored, and I always have something to look forward to--and now, even though I type and read quickly, I'm shutting down the computer for awhile because this thread has proved to be a major distraction. :) </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/what-is-on-your-to-do-list/page/2#post-44382 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:51:59 +0000 candy 44382@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>I think we all have very different approaches to to-do-lists. For example, I wouldn't dream of adding cooking or reading to a to-do-list - that's just things that I do more or less daily and if I don't feel like it, I skip it. For me, it would be like adding "eat" or "brush my teeth" or... "breathe" to a to-do-list. But I understand that we all have different needs for structure and different ways of approaching daily chores. I think it is safe to say that I've reached the "maintenance phase" for my daily/weekly chores. </p> <p>The lists I do keep are mainly for grocery shopping (I add whatever is missing to my Evernote shopping list) and a sort of global "whenever I come across it" list (also Evernote) for things that I'm not actively looking for but need to remember, for example measurements for a piece of furniture I am vaguely looking for or the name of an author whose books I want to take a closer look at. I also add to my calendar both work related and private appointments, but some of my "appointments" are so fixed that I only note exceptions (for example, I usually book the communal laundry room for Sunday evening, if someone else has booked that time and I have to book another time I need to note it in my calendar). </p> <p>Now, for work, it's another story. I have looooooong lists of stuff to do and quite a few very fixed deadlines at work. Perhaps that's also a reason why I like to keep my private life as list-free as possible. I think it also helps that I'm single and don't have children, so I don't need to synchronise my life with someone else. </p> http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/what-is-on-your-to-do-list/page/2#post-44380 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:45:53 +0000 ninakk 44380@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ <p>iCal on my iMac (synced to iPhone and iPad) contains day-specific To-Do tasks that don't fall into the repeating categories of my checklists in Bento. Tasks that need to get done on a specific day are made into all-day appointments, whereas tasks that might be worked on over a longer time become To Do items beside the calendar itself ("design placecards for sister's birthday party" etc.).</p> <p>Day-specific all-day tasks are reminders to pay bills (I cut a reoccurring bill from its date when it has been paid and paste it onto the next day, especially convenient if it's a non-monthly bill such as insurance or electricity), mail birthday cards, return library books, etc.</p> <p>Day-specific scheduled tasks may be sewing on Monday evening, sauna on Tuesday evening, fold and put away laundry on Tuesday and Friday mornings, etc.</p> <p>In Bento, the weekly, monthly and half-yearly checklists help me while I'm making those tasks into habits and they make my progress very visual, which feels rewarding. In fact, there is currently some overlap in iCal since I'm trying to visualize when something can and should take place. Bureaucracy evening is scheduled on Wednesdays and the specific tasks are checklisted in Bento. This may evolve once I've tried it a few times but for now I'm trying to get as many things done as smoothly as possible so that I'd still have proper free time with guilt-free hobbies in the evenings.</p> <p>My reply isn't a straight-forward one, because I never managed to use a simple software like a ToDo list; it was too confusing to organize on a higher level for me, but my beloved Bento has been the answer. I tried working with a paper version for years and loved the Moleskine weekly view in columns, but everything else except calendar stuff was a holy mess. Tried a zillion electronic ways to keep everything together yet failed miserably until I found a way to customize just about everything and anything; Bento. </p>