To share a failsafe to-do list system with you all?

[PerfectParisian]

Was reading a book about dealing with stress (think it's called Stress Management for Dummies) and it had a really good tip for making to-do lists.

The book suggests using a notebook for to-do lists so you can keep them all accessible and in one place.

The idea is that you have two to-do lists: a 'master to-do list' and daily to-do lists.

With the (bloody brilliant!!) master to-do list, you record absolutely everything you need to do on there. I quite like prioritising my tasks to-do list from 1 to 4 ('cos I'm anal like that ), with 1 being urgent and important, 2 being urgent but not important, 3 is not urgent but important and 4 is not urgent and not important.

You then use the daily to-do lists to complete each task in priority order.

Isn't it a fab idea?

[SoupDragon]

I love my Bullet Journal although it is fairly minimal. One side of a double page spread is my customised calendar (a clock face stamp for each day and colour coded stuff written all over with arrows to the day/time) and the other has my Done list at the top and things I need to do or remember written on little post it notes on the bottom half.

I find To Do lists depressing :o

[MrsHathaway]

I also use Outlook.

Then the next week, I copy-and-paste into next week's TODO calendar entry, tidy up by deleting DONEs and that becomes my list for the week.

Did you know you can set up Recurrence on Tasks? E.g. I have one which prompts me to book an oversubscribed fitness class when the slots are released every Monday and Friday. When I mark it done it automatically creates the next task. Also very useful for things like "wash windows outside every two months" or "treat cats (fleas, worms) one month after you last did".

[SuperSharpShooter]

I Bullet Journal...in my Filofax (old school) for in my bag.

Also have a Family Book that stays in the house - each family member is colour coded.

And a wall chart in the kitchen.

Spend half an hour on Sunday evenings whilst kids are in the bath updating them all.

Im a saddo, but it works for me :)

[Nanna50]

I am very much a do-er and have so much to do that I need to use outlook to remind me and tasks list to prioritise. I don't have time to procrastinate, although I would like to

[BamburyFuriou3]

As above lists just make me stressed and depressed.
We have a family calendar with birthdays, MOTs, insurance renewals, appointments, classes etc on it, and a chalk board for those odd DIY projects that are hard to find the time for but occasionally we have a free weekend so look at the board and go "oh let's have a crack at/do xx".
Other stuff we have a routine for - beds changed on a weekend, filters cleaned beginning of the month etc.

Its what works for you that is best (obvious comment of the year )

[viques]

Making lists is often another way of procrastinating action, especially if you have multiple lists, colour coded lists,lists with sticky markers and special list marker pens......

[SoupDragon]

Thing is, peoples' brains work in different ways. What is right for you is not right for someone else.

[SpottedGingham]

I write my to do list after I’ve done what I feel like doing then I can tick it all off as done. Sorted.

[GetAHaircutCarl]

I find that I can keep life ticking over without lists and just reacting to things. So my phone is broken (okay it fell down the toilet) so today I have to find time to go to the Apple shop.

But for larger projects, I need ambitious wish lists. I scribble down everything I'd like to do and then try to work out a timetable of how to get there.
From there I break tasks down and input those smaller tasks into my diary and to do lists.

[blueshoes]

Mrs Hathaway: Did you know you can set up Recurrence on Tasks?

Yes, I use Outlook Recurrence frequently. However, most of the tasks on my TODO list are one-off project-based tasks, rather than recurrences. I don't even put recurrences on the TODO list. They just go straight into Outlook as a recurrence calendar item.

[MrsHathaway]

I'm confused, then. I don't understand why you're copying and pasting tasks into a to do list (where?) when either they're outstanding so they already exist, or they're done but recurring in which case Recurrence would have been useful.

But then, it is still early enough that I haven't had a cup of tea yet

[PerfectParisian]

I don't use anything too convoluted though. It is the best way to procrastinate! I just have a nice hardback notebook and keep my Lists in there.

This is really exactly what I do Shhh. I get that it doesn't work for everyone, but it works really well for me.

[BalloonSlayer]

I do this anyway.

I have a list in my diary of long-term things (order carpet, paint x room, update CV)

I often have a daily list which includes plenty of mundane stuff I would do anyway:

Wash & dry hair
Packed lunches
school run

But then! Tucked into it sometimes will be "order carpet" or "update CV" and blow me I will actually get it done after months of thinking I must get round to it!

[IfyouseeRitaMoreno]

I like the idea that list makers are procrastinators.

Yes there’s nothing nicer than creating a list based on a new system of distinguishing between reoccurring tasks, one off project lists, daily sub-routines. I’m salivating just thinking about it.
It’s just acting on it is a bit harder.

[thecatsthecats]

My to do list is just 'keep on top of the important stuff' followed by 'sod it, I'm knackered'. I'm finding it hard to get excited by this new idea!

I would like to share my shopping list 'hack' though:

In Excel, make a huuuuuuuuuuge list of all the things you ever need (if you're extra preppy, in the order they can be found in the shop. Aldi ruined this for me when they reorganised the veg). Literally all the items you ever get, whether you buy them once a year or twice a week.

When you go to make your shopping list, put a 'y' next to everything you need to remember. Then filter by 'y', and print the list.

For me, this works because I'm always struggling to remember the random Item I may or may not need, but I find it super easy to run my eye down the list and go 'yes, no, yes, ooh, yes, restock that'. Skipping past the things we don't need takes no time at all, but remembering you need more sodding pesto is the thing that gets me!

[ProperLavs]

I also find I lose every list I make. I have never managed to get to the supermarket and complete a shop with the list. Either I lose it en route, it doesn't leave the house with me or I lose it in the supermarket.

I have tried diaries but I forget to use them, then I lose them.
The only thing that works if I ever need a list-usually only for holiday packing, is to have it on the whiteboard glued to the kitchen wall. i can't loose that and I see it when i walk past.

My calendar is one of those huge organised mum ones, can't live without that- month to view on my wall, in my face.

[ProperLavs]

also surely a lot of these lists you don't actually need to write down? You just get on with them anyway, change sheets, wash hair, whatever.

[allthgoodusernamesaretaken]

I have a system like Bambino's - online calendar with everything in it; paper diary for a week at a time; magnetic board on the fridge for colour-coded 'this week by person's so I can see who is where and how many will be home for dinner, and the children can see what's for tea (to stop them having the same thing for lunch). The house broadly runs on a rota of one bed/towel change a day during the week and bathrooms / kitchen as we go.

But I still end up, once a month or so, with a piece of A0 paper folded to give 16 A4 sheets to brain dump everything in my head - eight personal lists (one each for me, DH, the DC, DFIL and DM) and eight more for house, each school (3), my business, Christmas / birthday (there's always one), long term plans and the Oh Shit list of stuff that got forgotten. The idea is anyone can pick up anything off these lists, but it doesn't always work like that!

If this works for you, that's great, but my head would explode. I like the "Just do it now" approach - if something will take under 2 mins, just get on and do it, rather than add it to a list

www.nowdothis.com is v helpful for longer lists of things you might forget to do

[Brokenbiscuit]

I have tried all sorts over the years.

At the moment, I'm using outlook task list and for anything that will take longer than 5 minutes to deal with, I schedule time in the calendar to get it done. I then put that date in as a deadline so that the task (and any information linked to it) pop up on the day when it is scheduled. I try to leave enough blank space in my calendar to deal with the unexpected ad hoc stuff that comes in, and I try to deal with the quick 5 minute tasks as soon as I can so that they don't build up. Also try to stay on top of email, otherwise that can become a massive task in itself!

I think it helps to put stuff into the calendar as I can see what I have coming up over the next few months and what I need to achieve. It helps me to say no to stuff when I need to, and to manage other people's expectations about when I'll be able to get stuff done. However, priorities do change, so sometimes I end up having to re-work it all!

[blueshoes]

MrsHathaway "I'm confused, then. I don't understand why you're copying and pasting tasks into a to do list (where?) when either they're outstanding so they already exist, or they're done but recurring in which case Recurrence would have been useful."

The TODO list is a whole day outlook calendar entry I make every Monday for the week ahead. It is literally just a list entered into the body of the outlook entry which I update as the week goes on and I carry over to the following Monday by copying-and-pasting the list into next Monday, but deleting DONE items.

It is just a list, could be in Word doc or an outlook draft email or Outlook Tasks. I tried using Outlook Tasks which worked for a spell but it ended up being one too many places for me to go to and in the end I used Outlook calendar which I am in all the time for work).

I said it was primitive!

[MrsHathaway]

Ah, now I'm with you. I just print from Tasks if necessary but mainly work electronically.