As I flipped through my newsfeed on Facebook, one post jumped out at me. My friend who I would describe as organized, was feeling the holiday rush crunch. "Things won't be as hectic in January" the post read. I couldn't help but think of how a post on how to create a productive To Do List may be helpful. If your thoughts are organized then you have won! G.I. Joe had it right....Knowing is half the battle!!
I love large sized calendars. You know, the desk top size that every teacher has! It's fantastic for jotting down due dates of projects, calls to return or doctors appointments. The main reason I love them? The date boxes allow for a sufficient amount of information, but they don't allow for a mile long To Do List to creep in! If it doesn't fit on the calendar, it doesn't FIT!
The holidays are a great time to remember helping and supporting others, but we can easily get burnt out by the requests for cookies for this bake sale, assist with costumes for the Christmas play, create programs for the church social....it can quickly add up! Remember, it is OK to politely decline and if you need an excuse, see above!
For years senior executives and other time-crunched people have used an A.B.C. approach to organizing your To Do List. It is common to write out 15-20 items and tackle 70% of the list and not have accomplished the most important thing because we tend to chose the easiest or least demanding time-wise to tackle first. Set your page up with three columns; A, B and C. The most important items go in column A, then B and finally C. This technique will allow you to visually see the tasks at hand and in what order they should be tackled.
As a final hint towards feeling more productive, as you write out your list, add a few items that you have already accomplished that day, in the corresponding category of A, B or C and cross them off! I always write "Make To Do List" and cross it off! :D
