Comments on: My To Do List Hates Me or, why your daily task list is defeating you

By: Tasker

Tasker — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 02:00:07 +0000

You should try this free online task maker/ task manager called DailyTasker.com

By: Ria

Ria — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:49:36 +0000

Fantastic post and I’m new to the site, so Hi! I love what you are doing here. I’m struggling though; how do you get over the feeling that it’s OK to do five things rather than 20? How do you feel ‘good enough’ about that rather than beating yourself up for all the things you haven’t done or are still to do on tomorrow’s list? I really struggle with this issue – the whole ‘good enough’ thing and would love some words of wisdom!

By: Meredith

Meredith — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 21:07:44 +0000

@Julie: great strategy. I’m going to try out Google’s Taskbar’s To Do.

By: Julie

Julie — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 18:43:55 +0000

I just use Google Taskbar’s “To-Do” list. I then separate items using
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and for each day, I have it listed. So it looks like this:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MONDAY, APRIL 11
bank
~~~~~
check PO box
~~~~~
grading
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It’s easy and Google TaskBar even has a function where I can save it to a file on my computer for the horrible occasion that could occur if my computer crashed and lost my list.

I use this in conjunction with Outlook, and I keep myself organized and I have four part-time jobs, all with completely different schedules.

By: Meredith

Meredith — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 04:55:03 +0000

I really love your tips. I’m guilty of not making my to-do lists as effective as they could be. That said, I have been using he Teux Deux system for some time now, too, and I love it! Especially the Someday section at the bottom. It keeps an endless ebb of sticky notes at bay.

By: Meredith from PenelopeLovesLists

Meredith from PenelopeLovesLists — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:43:16 +0000

Great idea, Natalie! I love the idea of using the “- – – – – – – – – – – – -” task in the list. Adding that to my To Do List system.

By: Natalie Jost | Olive Manna

Natalie Jost | Olive Manna — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:24:38 +0000

TEUXDEUX is great! I use it every day. It’s a stationary tab on my browser. I love that I can refresh it in the morning and see unfinished tasks from yesterday automatically bump over to the bottom of today’s list.

I like to organize groups of tasks with a “- – - – - – - – - – - – -” task in the list. I can drag and drop the dashed line to anywhere I want a separation.

In the past I used a calendar and wrote daily to dos on each day, with a perpetual to do on a blank page in the back – things I do regularly or things that will take more than a day to do. Now with TEUXDEUX I can “schedule” a list item to Friday if I know it’s something like my “Friday Favorites” blog post – in much the same way I did with a calendar.

Still, Gamma is right – nothing works for too long, so I’ll probably have a better solution a few months from now. But isn’t that the point of a to do list, that it constantly change (items being listed, then being crossed off). If it’s always the same, it makes actually doing anything much more boring (to me anyway).

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:11:20 +0000

I keep a running list, but my top must-get-done-or-somone-will-hurt-me items are placed on my calendar where I block out time during my day to get them done. I really like that you are posting your week’s to do list too.

By: Meredith

Meredith — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:21:58 +0000

@ Gamma: Whew! To Do List-keeping can be tiring, huh? I hear you!

I keep my “overall” list in Backpack online, but my daily 3-4 items in my Off the Grid notebook, which never leaves my side.

I just sort of obstinately refuse to do anything that’s not on my list until my list items are done. Yes, it means that sometimes emails have to wait an hour or two to be answered, but, I feel so much better when I stay focused on my most important items, rather than allowing myself to be drawn off.

By: gamma

gamma — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:01:36 +0000

To Do lists, for me, are like getting young children to accomplish tasks: nothing works for very long. Currently, I use a (paper) notepad to physically walk around and collect tasks, a Word document to manage the tasks, and my iPhone for lists that must be portable. (I store them in the Notes app, and eliminate the tedious text-entry process by keying them into an email on my desktop, sending it to myself, retrieving the email on my iPhone, and cutting-and-pasting the list into Notes.)

But the info here is invaluable. These new product ideas are attractive and practical. I’m pretty good at keeping my list items measurable, but I am going to try separating the top-tier items from the nice-if-I-have-time items so I can feel the glow of accomplishment at the end of the day.