To do lists for successful time management

June 16, 2008 Time Management No Comments

Time management is one of the most important skills for people to have. Effective time management enables people to maximize their time at work, at home, and in leisure, in order to get the best balance and the benefits from these areas of life. Good time managers are usually more productive, more successful, and happier than people who waste time, or do not have good time management skills.

One staple of organization and time management is an effective planner, or to do list. A to do list is a great way to keep track of important tasks that must be completed during the course of a day. There are many benefits to a to do list, but two key ones stand out: 1) Greater overall productivity and 2) Greater prioritization of tasks.

Greater productivity results because when people take the time to write down what they need to accomplish, they are less distracted by external forces and require less time to refocus on tasks at hand. Additionally, writing stuff down makes it easier to keep track of the things that must be completed. Great productivity also provides other benefits including reduced stress.

Greater prioritization is at least as important as gains in productivity. There are two key factors that can help people decide what tasks are most important: The level of importance and the level of urgency of the tasks. Despite human nature and people’s tendencies to do the easier and more efficient stuff first, it is best to put items that are important and urgent at the top of the list. These tasks should be followed by others that are either important or urgent, with non-important, non-urgent tasks placed at the bottom of list.

The benefit of prioritizing tasks is that completing the more challenging and more urgent items sooner makes it less likely than these tasks do not get down. It is much better to find easier, less urgent tasks remaining at the end of a busy day, than harder, more urgent ones. It is also important to remember personal to dos. Having a daily planner or list that takes into consideration both professional and personal items can help keep peace at work and at home.