There is a lot of information available on how to organize your life. I’ve been thinking a lot about this over the past few weeks as the calendar changed to a new year.  A flood in my basement over Christmas, re-decorating my house and an upcoming office move have all been big drivers in my quest for better organization.

So how do you get started? My favourite - the "to-do list." Anyone in my family will tell you that I need a list just to find all the lists that I make in a day. I love the to-do list. I get great satisfaction from crossing items off the list as I go about my day. I have been known to add something that wasn’t originally on the list, just for the simple pleasure of stroking it off. But are my to-do lists effective? Do I get the results I need from this ritual I hold in such high esteem?

I turned to the internet in search of advice on how best to use the to-do list. There is an abundance of information out there, everything from paper templates to a load of on-line free service electronic to-do lists (see below).

Over at Mind Tools  they describe a to-do list as a prioritized list of all the tasks that you need to carry out. The to-do list includes everything you have to do, with the most important tasks at the top of the list, and the least important at the bottom. Simple enough! Mind Tools suggests when you start to use to-do lists properly that is when you might have your first personal productivity/time management breakthrough, and start to make real success in your career. 

So how do we get started with our list? Mind Tools suggests sitting down and writing down every task that we need to do and then doing sub-tasks within the tasks until everything is broken down into bite sized pieces (each task should take no more than 1 or 2 hrs to complete). Sounds daunting, but they say once you’ve prioritized each task with a due date and other information for easy sorting you will have a precise plan to tackle your day in order of importance or urgency.

Over at the Women’s Lunch Talk  Nancy Clark suggests that you categorize your life into Job, Family, Friends and Yourself. (You could add others as well). Start by separating items under each category on your computer. At the left of each item prioritize with H (high priority), M (medium priority) or L (low priority). Sort all tasks into priority order. Decide whether you want four separate lists or you want to lump them all together. At the end of the day put an “x” beside all completed items. Here is the really great thing about doing this. When time comes to talk about a raise or performance review you have all your tasks completed at the ready to help state your case. No more trying to rack your brain to remember what you did six months ago. Another time saver.

My method is far less high tech. Every morning at breakfast I write my to-do list (most of which comes from the day before that I didn’t get finished) into my day-timer. I then sit and write down numbers in order of priority beside each task. As tasks get done they are stroked off and others added as the day proceeds. Whatever is left at the end of the day gets moved to the next day, and so on. I like this method, because the actual art of writing them down helps to secure a place in my ever-forgetful brain. It also helps set the context for my day as by the time I get to work I know exactly what needs to be done.

I am going to look at moving to the task list in Microsoft Office Outlook or one of the many on-line task applications. Then I will try to print off the task list for the next day before I leave work and simply review it over breakfast. I’ll give it a try and see if this change brings me closer to organizational success. I’ll continue to keep my personal to-do’s separate from my work to-do’s or the whole day might just become a little overwhelming. My hope is that the to-do lists for projects can be reused (no more reinventing the wheel) and the electronic copy will make it easy to prepare monthly reports on my progress.

Good luck with your organization in 2009. Share your best practices with other readers of the blog. I’d love to know what works for you.

On-line free services

Orchestrate HQ - http://www.orchestratehq.com/
Ta Da Lists http://www.tadalist.com/
Remember the Milk http://www.rememberthemilk.com/
Rough Underbelly http://roughunderbelly.com/user/login
For a brief description of each on-line service visit Solution Watch http://www.solutionwatch.com/450/25-to-do-lists-to-stay-productive

If you need a laugh before you get started check out the “Not to-do list”
http://www.52projects.com/52_projects/2005/09/a_nottodo_list.html