9 Tips On How To Keep An Effective To-Do List + Printable To Do List Templates

You probably already make to-do lists so that you don’t forget anything important. But do you always have enough time to do all the things on your list?
I have collected 9 tips for you on how to plan your day properly, thus increasing your productivity and making the most of your time.
Also, at the end of this article, you can find some printable to do list examples to help with this.

1. Use An App

Although some of us prefer the old-fashioned way of using a daily planner or sticking notes on the monitor, it’s hard to keep such a list handy all the time. Plus, you can accidentally leave your agenda at home and forget something important because of it.

Most task manager apps can synchronize across all your devices, so you’ll always have access to your to-do list: not only at your workplace but also during a business trip or at a meeting.

There are many task managers on the app market with different features and interfaces, so you can choose an app to suit your taste.
At the end of this article, you can find some printable to do list examples.

2. Plan Your Day In Advance

It’s best to make plans for the next day the night before. This way, you can get started right in the morning without having to spend too much time thinking about and prioritizing tasks, and the list of uncompleted tasks will shrink faster.

Try setting aside 10 minutes each evening to plan tomorrow. Use a calendar or planner and allocate enough time for each task. If there isn’t enough time for all tasks, revise your list and re-prioritize.

It’s not unreasonable to make notes throughout the day about what you want to do tomorrow. In the evening, sort those notes and add them to your calendar.
At the end of this article, you can find some printable to do list examples.

3. Separate Work And Personal Life

In the world of modern technology, separating work and personal life can be difficult, so it’s important to find a balance. It’s not really helpful to worry about taking your cat to the vet or picking up your down jacket from the dry cleaner while you’re at work, nor is it appropriate to think about marketing campaigns or that presentation you have to give on Monday while you’re out to dinner with family or friends. Because of this, your productivity and focus can decrease and your stress levels can increase.

Separate personal and work tasks on your to-do list. Many task managers allow you to create separate lists, but if you keep involuntarily looking at your work list at home or your personal list at work, you can try different apps.
At the end of this article, you can find some printable to do list examples.

4. Make A List Of Things You Don’t Need To Do

If you often don’t have enough time to accomplish all the tasks on your to-do list, try making a list of things you don’t need to do. Analyze everything you do and try to eliminate things that don’t add much value.
Ask yourself some questions about how you spend your time at work. What do you spend the most time on? How do certain things change your life? Are these things useful for your career? And for your personal life? Make a list of things that are not useful, not feasible, or just wasting your time.

For example:

– Don’t schedule meetings with everyone who asks for them

– Don’t do things manually that could be automated

– Don’t spend a lot of time on little things (like choosing the right font for a headline)

Creating such a list is a good mental exercise to help you get rid of things that waste your time and distract your attention. Of course, you don’t need to make such a list regularly – just update it a couple of times a year.

At the end of this article, you can find some printable to do list examples.

5. Group Tasks

Multitasking is a myth. Even if you think you can easily handle multiple tasks at the same time, research shows that our brain is incapable of it. It doesn’t perform tasks at the same time, it just switches between them quickly.

Suppose you are answering emails while listening to music. Try typing a reply and hear the lyrics of the song at the same time – you’ll probably find it quite difficult. And every time you switch between hearing the music and thinking about the answer, your brain stops one process and starts another. This affects us negatively: because of this switching, we waste time and energy, work less efficiently, and risk making more mistakes.

Perhaps you’re often distracted during your workday – in addition to working on your main priority task, you’re checking email, answering calls and texts, listening to voicemail, etc. To increase your productivity, try grouping similar tasks together.

A few examples of what’s worth grouping:

• Email. Check your email and respond to emails once or twice a day instead of answering them all at once (unless you work in support, of course). For example, set aside time for this before lunch and in the evening.
• Phone calls. Write down the contacts of all the people you need to call, and once a day make all the necessary calls in one go. You can choose your own time, but it’s best to eliminate lunch hours.
  
• Tasks. When you have important tasks that are related to each other in one way or another, it is better to do them all in one go, one after another.
  
• Planning. Set aside a few hours to think about and plan your next big goal or idea.
  
• Tracking information. It can be easy to get “hooked” on data checking and constantly checking your website stats or monthly revenue numbers. Set aside a dedicated time for this and check the data once a week or a month.
  

At the end of this article, you can find some printable to do list examples.

6. Assign A Deadline For The Task

Have you ever had an important task that didn’t have a specific timeframe and you put it “on hold” until it became urgent?

Set due dates for every task on your to-do list, especially important tasks. Try to set specific dates because when you extend your due date once, you’re likely to extend it again. It’s best to keep all deadlines in one place. This is where task managers come in handy – almost all such applications have the ability to sort by due date, making it easier for you to prioritize your tasks.

Breaking tasks down into subtasks will also come in handy here, because you’ll be able to set deadlines for each subtask, so you’ll be more aware of what steps you need to take to achieve your goal. Even if you fail to meet the deadline, learn from your mistakes and avoid this in the future.

7. Get Rid Of Things That Distract You And Fight Procrastination

Modern technology allows us (and sometimes even encourages us) to be online all the time, so it’s pretty easy to get distracted. You start working on a task and suddenly you get a notification that your friend tagged you in a photo, you briefly open your social media page, and suddenly realize that five hours have passed and you’re watching another kitty video.

We all fall victim to procrastination from time to time. To combat it, there are special apps to keep you from getting distracted from work. You can decide for yourself how strict it should be – some apps simply count the time you spend on social networks or other “unproductive” sites, and some apps can completely block access to such sites. Here are a few apps you can try:

Go F*cking Work is a free Chrome extension that will swear every time you visit sites that distract you.

Productivity Owl is another free Chrome extension that allows you to access sites you specify in the settings, but only for a certain amount of time, so you can quickly find what you need and get back to work. You can also specify a “free time” during which all restrictions are turned off.

If you don’t want to use apps, try just putting your phone in airplane mode.

At the end of this article, you can find some printable to do list examples.

8. Try The Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro technique was invented by Francesco Cirillo in the early 90s. The technique got its name because Francesco, then a student at an Italian university, used a tomato-shaped timer to keep track of his work. The method is quite simple: when you have a task or a series of tasks, you need to break your work into short segments of time (25 minutes), separated by small pauses (5 minutes). Such segments are called “tomatoes”.

Start a timer or use a special application and for 25 minutes fully immerse yourself in the work on the task. Try not to be distracted by calls or alerts. If you suddenly remember that you need to do something else, write it down on a piece of paper and keep working. When the timer counts down to 25 minutes and beeps, take a break – stretch, make yourself a cup of coffee, meditate, or do something else relaxing that isn’t work-related. And start a new “tomato.” After every 4 “tomatoes” take a big pause of 20-30 minutes.

There are many advantages to this technique. First, it visually demonstrates how much time and effort it takes for a certain task, so you can roughly imagine how many “tomotodos” a similar task will take. Secondly, you’ll be less distracted this way – the rare message can be so important that it can’t wait 25 minutes.

The Pomodoro technique also improves the quality of your work – usually during one “tomato” you work on one task, and you’ll likely have extra time to check for errors and “clean up” your work. Plus, if you regularly divide your work time into “tomatoes”, it will become a habit and you’ll find it much easier to stick to deadlines and get things done on time.

Read also about the “Habits of Highly-Organized Women“.

At the end of this article, you can find some printable to do list examples.

9. Reward Yourself For Completing Tasks

Sure, crossing another task off your to-do list can be enjoyable in itself, but sometimes we need that extra motivation to keep us focused. Especially, if you’re doing something you don’t enjoy. Then it’s time to come up with a reward system!

For example, after completing each task, you can allow yourself to go to your favorite website, eat or drink something delicious, or watch an interesting video. You can even try paying yourself each time you complete a particularly challenging project. For example, you could start a savings account at the bank, or put money into a Steam account, or buy gift cards from your favorite store. Depending on the trouble and difficulty of the task, you can decide how much money you’ll pay yourself.

When you finish a really big and important project, reward yourself accordingly – take a little trip, take your family or friends to a fancy restaurant, or do something you’ve been meaning to do for a while – like sign up for a cooking class, go to a wine tasting, or treat yourself to a great meal.

You can also check our “Self-love Checklist”!

So, start implementing these strategies today and witness the transformative impact on your productivity and well-being.By following these tips, you’ll streamline your to-do list and boost your productivity.

Printable To Do List Templates

Here, you’ll find free printable to do lists to help you get organized. I’ve included a variety of printable to do list template you can download and use to stay on top of your tasks and improve your productivity.