My To-Do List Quick Fix
TL;DR
Although most things on our daily to-do list feel urgent, when we slow down and check in with ourselves, we can easily see the difference between the things on our list that are, in fact, urgent, and the things that can wait.
I was recently coaching a client who is in the early stages of beginning a start-up business and was (as you can imagine) completely overwhelmed by the massive list she created of everything she has to do for the new business.
My first question for her was, “What on this list is essential for NOW, and what can wait until LATER?”
Such an obvious question, but for her (and most of us) this can be a blind spot in our list-making process.
One thing I’ve learned in my 20 years in business, is that although most things on our lists feel urgent, when we slow down and check in with ourselves, we can easily see the difference between the things on our list that are, in fact, urgent, and the things that can wait.
Many of you know I teach an entire system for goal-setting and goal-getting that includes a strategic way to build and grow your action lists so that you can stay in action toward the goals you’ve set. If you are interested in learning more about this you can check out The Creative Path course.
But for now, I want to give you all a quick solution for that overwhelming to-do list moment.
So...how do you catch this blind spot?
Easy.
Step 1: Get out your list and review it.
Step 2: Ask yourself: “What on this list cannot wait another day? What has tohappen today?”
Step 3: Take those tasks off your main list and move them somewhere new to become your TODAY LIST. (But make sure they're tasks and not projects — projects usually CANNOT be completed in one day, so let’s be sure to break those down into bite-size actions and then see what can be carried over from that project list to your main to do list.)
Step 4: Go back to your original list and ask yourself: “What’s important, but clearly not for NOW? These tasks get moved over to a new list you are going to call your LATER LIST.
This is a fun moment, when you can feel the weight of your main to-do list lighten as you take the non-essentials off that list. Best part? That Later List is right there waiting for you to grab things from it and move over to your other list every time you get ready to set up the week in front of you.
Finally Step 5: You now have your TODAY LIST and your LATER LIST. So, whatever is leftover becomes your FOR THIS WEEK LIST. And you get to work off of this list as you set up each day in your week. Make sense?
So, if you happen to be someone who doesn’t tend to plan your weeks in advance, you can at the very least keep this FOR TODAY / FOR THIS WEEK / FOR LATER breakdown as a way to separate out the essential from the non-essential actions for the day in front of you.
One caveat...for all my procrastinators! I see you.
And I know what you are thinking: Free rein to constantly move everything to the Later List and end up getting nothing important done each day and then feel crappy about yourself??
Nope. That’s not what this is. This suggested strategy is actually perfect for you to stop procrastinating and get to the heart of what MUST happen each day.
Especially for anyone with a neurodivergent brain (which happen to be many of our amazing creatives in this community), this concept can support you when the overwhelm tends to lead to “list paralysis” — making the list but not being able to execute it.
Let this be a simpler way to break down your list into 3 buckets: For Today, For The Week, and For Later.
I mean, some days you need to buy more toilet paper or put more gas in your car because you have literally run out. That’s what we are aiming for when you create that TODAY LIST. And it can be 1-3 actions, but shouldn’t be 10-13. Keep. It. Simple.
Now listen, this is not rocket science and I’m certainly not reinventing the wheel here. But sometimes we can miss the most obvious solutions because of our blindspots. And this is a common blind spot I see all the time with my clients, especially when they are feeling overwhelmed with everything on their plates.
The real key here is to know that your most important productivity tool is not an app or a worksheet — it’s your ability to get real with yourself and truly honest about what is for now and what isn’t. It's all about clarity.
And the best part? It won’t cost you anything, as long as you are willing to slow down and check in with yourself. (And when I say "check in" I really mean TUNE IN TO YOURSELF, the way a musician tunes their instrument until it's right on pitch.)
That’s where the clarity comes from.
So, when in doubt, turn your To-Do List into a For Today List only and get to work!