Do you have a to-do list?
Maybe you have a honey-do list.
A to-do list is a list of tasks you intend to accomplish.
A honey-do list is a list of tasks your significant other wants you to accomplish.
As a blogger, you must have many tasks that need completion since being a blogger is so time-consuming.
I have a to-do list. As a matter of fact, I have many.
I have to-do lists on my iPhone in the Notes app, the Pages app, my Evernote app, and on my Wunderlist app. Also, I keep to-do lists each day in my Google Calendar. I also keep to-do lists on paper on my laptop, so I will see them when I blog.
In addition, I have tasks that need completing on the honey-do list I give my husband.
Today’s guest, Mickey Ann, offers six tips for managing your to-do lists.
Since she has completed research in the area of time management, she is well qualified to write about productivity tips for bloggers.
Fair warning: Tip 3 is a shocker.
Mickey Ann is beyond busy. Career counseling, ghostwriter, novelist, and blogger are a few of the many activities that keep her occupied. She definitely finds time to blog and do it all.
Here she presents her tips for using the to-do list to manage your time better.
Rethinking the To-Do List
I’ve always wanted to write.  When I recently moved from thinking about it to doing it, one of the first things I did was research hacks about finding time, making time, buying time, stopping time, and creating time to write. Â
When I was a practicing attorney, time was a commodity that could be monetarily valued to six-minute increments. Since transitioning into full-time work as a career counseling, I still think of time as having a monetary value. Â
In addition to having a full-time job, I am a freelance ghostwriter and blogger and am currently finishing up my first novel, Gods Behaving Badly (Book One). These are the things I truly enjoy doing.
Unfortunately, the time I have to devote to them can be quantified in aggregate minutes rather than continuous minutes.  Therefore, making the most of these “free times” during the day requires a lot of discipline.  After much trial and error, I have found what helps me to not only make the most of these valuable moments but to truly enjoy them, is rethinking the to-do-list.
Make To-Do-Lists in the Morning
I used to make my to-do lists the night before as one of the last things I did before leaving the office. What I realized was that I was creating undue anxiety knowing that I already had a full day’s worth of tasks ready for me the following morning.  Moreover, inevitably, there was always something that occurred in the morning that required either adding something new to the top of the list or moving something from lower on the list to the top.  I have reduced my anxiety significantly by making my to-do-list in the morning.
Make Your To-Do-Lists the Old-Fashioned Way.
We all make them.  Some do so on a computer, some do so the old-fashioned way.  I prefer the old-fashioned way because there is nothing more satisfying than dragging a pen or pencil across the paper to strike out an item on my list.  At the end of the day, I look back at all the strikethroughs and marvel at what I’ve accomplished.
Go Ahead. Â Tear Up the To-Do-List!
I always make a complete list of everything I want to do and everything I need to do. Then, I tear that list in half! Â I find that the longer the list is, the more daunting it is to get started. Â Whereas, if the list is more manageable, how wonderful is it when I can get through that list and add a few items to it.
Try the Post-It To-Do-List Approach
The half-list as I’ve described above works for me more often than not.  Occasionally, however, I feel like even half of a list is too much. On the rare occasion that happens, I grab a post-it and fit as much as I can on that post-it in my normal size writing.  I then toss out the post-it when I’m done and make another.Â
Make Your To-Do-List Work for You
When I sit down to make my list, I try to do so with a clear head.  I sit down and immediately write whatever comes to mind and in the order in which they pop into my head.  I often find that the order in which they pop into my head is the order in which I’m actually motivated to complete the list.  As a result, I often get through the list much quicker so I can keep adding to it throughout the day.
Take a Bottom-up Approach to the List
When I find I am still lacking the motivation to complete my list in the order in which I have written it, I try to shake things up. I start from the bottom or in the middle.  Usually, before I know it, I’ve crossed out a good number of items on my list!Â
I would love to hear from you about what works for you!
Mickey Ann
https://www.facebook.com/finewritingsite/
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/MickeyAnn
Host Blogger’s Commentary:
Whether or not you are a blogger, there are tips here for you.
Sometimes you have to come up with unusual solutions for problems.
Mickey Ann solves the problem of being inundated with too many tasks by suggesting you consider the to-do list a blogging tool to keep you focused. The post explained 6 ways to be more focused and therefore more productive by using the to-do list.
Mickey Ann definitely sounds organized as well as knowledgeable.
People are busier than ever before. Please share, so everyone can get the benefit of Mickey Ann’s tips.
Are you a busy blogger? (Aren’t we all?) What productivity tips do you follow? I look forward to your views in the comments section.
Would you like more free blogging tools?
Click here to get your own downloadable PDF of my free blogging tools list.
Related Posts:
How to Blog and Still Have Time to Sleep Part II
19 Strange Ideas That Will Amplify Your Productivity
