Earlier this month I posted a link to an article about writing more effective to-do lists. Today I want to share with you my top tips to keep in mind when you write your to-do lists. Nobody is perfect and as I have talked about time after time, no one solution works for everyone, with that in mind please do not view this list as the letter of law, but as guidelines.

1. Make it actionable: anything and everything that you put on your to-do list should be worded in a way that makes that ‘to-do’ actionable. (e.g. ‘Go to the Grocery store.’ Not ‘Groceries’).

2. Avoid the little stuff: Try not to put on a bunch of actions that you are going to check off in rapid succession. We tend to want to put such items on our lists so that we have more to check off, and thus feel better about our productivity, don’t do this. (e.g. Let the dog outside. Look at the time.)

3. Break up large tasks: Don’t put clean garage on your to-do list, this is a project not a to do. When you find you have a project break it apart and list the parts by themselves. [Read more about this here](http://www.productivityhacks.com/archives/966 “Read More”)

4. Quantify your results: A lot of people tend to write down to-do’s that use the word ‘start’. This is not a productive word, starting is easy, completing is hard. The next time you find yourself wanting to write down a to-do like “start christmas shopping” instead write down a quantifiable task such as “buy Jim’s christmas present”.

5. Your to-do list is not for reminders: Do not get in the habit of writing down reminders as part of your to-do list (e.g. Don’t forget to watch American Idol at 9), use a different system to store these reminders, a system that will actually pop up and alert (such as calendaring software).

6. Forget Prioritizing: Most all to-do programs have a way to prioritize all of your tasks, don’t do it. Do not do it. I sort my to-do lists by due date only (even though not all of my to-do’s have a due date) I know what needs to be done that day and do them all that day. If one has to be done earlier in the day I mark it as such. Everything else on my list is of equal priority. I will due a to-do with no due date and one due tomorrow after I finish my other to-dos, or just ones with no due date. It does not matter, so long as you get what you need done, when you need it done.

Related posts:

• The Achievable to-Do / Task List
• Productivity: As Simple as a Grocery List
• The Power of Agenda Lists
• Create a Learning Log to Remember Stuff