How I stopped using to-lists...and became my most organised self yet
Discover how shifting from endless to-do lists to intentional systems can streamline your work, reduce mental clutter and help you achieve progress every day with ease.
I am not a go with the flow person. I have been overly organised since I was a little girl. So when I say I stopped creating to-do lists, it doesn’t come from a place of stepping into more slow living energy. It comes from loving all things organisation and productivity. It comes from my experience as a Marketing and Communications Manager, overseeing big brands, teams, and often attending up to nine meetings a day.
Now, I manage a portfolio of clients, a blog, a YouTube channel and a podcast, among other things. So, when I suggest stopping the use of a to-do list, it’s not so you stop being governed by your to-do list - though sometimes I’d really love to be that person. It’s so instead of making to-do lists, you create systems that work for you. Systems that automate the work, so your to-do list becomes redundant.
What gets scheduled gets done
Productive guru, David Allen, in his book Getting Things Done, highlights that stress comes from keeping things in your head. You ease the mental burden when you get things out of your head and into a system. Your to-do list might help get things out of your head, but it stops short of putting it into an actionable system.
Schedule every task directly into your calendar as an event, allocating the time required. Within the event details, list any key details you need to progress this most effectively.
For complex projects, create project plans. Scheduling allows you to break down significant tasks into manageable ones, with allocated timings.
Adopt the PARA method
Tiago Forte, who brought us the best-seller, Building a Second Brain, presented the idea of the PARA method, which he delves into in more detail in the follow-up book, The Para Method.
PARA, a digital organisation framework, is made up of four categories to encompass your entire life:
P: Projects are short-term efforts in your work or life that you’re working on right now. They have an end goal.
A: Areas are your long-term responsibilities you want to manage over time.
R: Resources are topics that interest you that you might be interested in in the future. A: Archives are inactive items from the other three categories.
School conditions you to organise your information according to the topic. However, the PARA system is centred around the mantra of “organise for action”.
Before discovering the PARA system, I used to keep a very elaborate network of files, which was likely creating more work than was justifiable and also buried things that should be front and centre. Simplifying my system has been the ultimate game-changer.
Create an action-oriented desktop.
In the spirit of PARA and ‘organising for action’, I keep my active projects on my desktop. This creates a visual to-do this. Instead of just keeping active client files on my desktop in a haphazard way, I organise them in rows and columns based on the stage the client is in. If there is any related documentation I am actively working on that day, or requires emailing. I leave this out of the folder, ready for action, before filing this again. This elevated to-do list, visually tells me what my most important priorities are for the day as well and readily equips me with the tools I need to make immediate progress.
Keep an overall project status report.
Your project status report is a place where you can see the depth of your commitments all in one place. Add key delivery deadlines and colour your system to show you instantly what requires action. Curate your colour coding to show the urgency of the task. For example, a deadline that is slowly approaching and may require intervention might be one colour, versus ones that need immediate attention.
Make your inbox actionable.
I also use the PARA method to organise my email, and in my main inbox, I only keep what requires a response. When it comes to responding, I will most often address multiple emails at once so I can group like-for-like tasks and allow for deep focus when working on other things.
Take action-oriented meeting notes
When I was very early in my career, I noticed my boss, using check boxes in his meeting notes for the items he had to action. It might be a small aesthetic detail, but I’ve loved doing this ever since. It means that among potentially messy notes, you can easily see what needs your attention and schedule it into your diary or project plans.
Swap to-do lists for high-functioning systems
To-do lists only capture tasks. System moves you and your work forward. Build systems that support you, not lists that overwhelm you. When you do, your workload stops feeling chaotic and starts feeling doable. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel for every task and project - even if it’s the small wins at a time. Create systems that help you feel lighter, clear your mind and perform your best.
