Talk 'to-do' lists with Aviva - you could win £150 worth of high street vouchers. NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

We've been asked by the team at Aviva to find out about your probably very long to-do list maybe it's on the fridge, on your phone or all in your head?

What's been on your to-do list forever and you've so far managed to avoid ticking off? What's your strategy for managing an ever-growing to do list? What impact did having children have on the list? Or, have you managed to tick something off? How did it make you feel?

Aviva says "With such busy lifestyles it's no surprise that families use lists to keep on top of things. However there's a temptation to focus on things we like doing, which can mean really important jobs stay on the list. Taking a little time to prioritise the things that are most important to your family's future and ticking them off could really benefit your family in the long run."

So please share your thoughts below - everyone who adds a comment below will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win £150 worth of high street vouchers.

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

PS Please note your comments, anon of course, may be used by Aviva on MN and possibly elsewhere.

I have a running to do list on my phone. A lot of the time I add things I know I will do anyway just so I can tick something off and feel I've accomplished something.

I tend to have weekly lists and some things roll for a few months before I get round to them .

I am a list of lists kinda gal!

I find the act of crossing things off lists so satisfying and it also helps me focus on just how much I have achieved even if there is still a lot to do.

If I have a very big to do list, I highlight the "absolutely must be done today" things even if they're not the most important they are the closest crocodile to the boat so must be swatted away!

I also find lists help me to delegate if I can, I write down everything that needs to be achieved and in order of the priority. If I look and think hmmm I'm not super woman and I just don't have enough time, I look to see if anyone else (DH, work colleague or team member) could/should take a task on.

I have lists all over written ones, on the notes section of my phone, as documents on my desktop and a chalkboard in the kitchen.

I was once told if you are stressing at bedtime about all you have to do, make a list and mentally park it on the list until the next morning this works for me.

Sometimes I add things I've already achieved to the list just to have the satisfaction of crossing it off

I have lot's of to do lists. Some written down some in my head. One of the things on my mental to do list is make a will. Up there at the top been there a while.

I find these lists very helpful. If there is just one or two things to do I plan it out in my head. More than that, e.g. multiple household admin tasks, or at work, and I make a sequential list and cross them off. Unlike others the crossing off doesn't give me satisfaction, it is more that the list enables me to focus my mind and work methodically through the tasks.

I find them especially helpful if I am stressed. Writing down what I have to do clarifies what needs doing, helps me prioritise what I can do and when and because I have a strategy that makes it less stresssful.

Those jobs that linger - I let them sit on my list for a week or so, but they wind me up, I generally then just get on with it, or it worries away at me. Usually those jobs are kept in my mental to do list, easier to ignore them there.

I'm a bit compulsive about being organised and have multiple to do lists. Mainly work related, a list of challenges for the year (things like run 5k in under 30 minutes) and then just general stuff I need to remember. I've got spreadsheets, a notebook and we use a project management system at work for those to do lists.

There are LOTS of things we need to do round the house at the moment but since having DD we are just firefighting. We decided to make a big to do list of tasks, print it out, fold them up and put them in a jar. Outdoor tasks would be on green paper (like de-jungle a particular area of the garden), one off (or infrequent) household tasks on red (takes over an hour, most likely involves DIY) or pink (less than an hour, eg sort out a particular drawer). We were then going to pull at least one task out each weekend or more if we had time until all the jobs were done. The first task was to do the list and create the jar ... Not ticked that off yet ...

I am a HUGE 'to do' list writer.

I find that I forget more stuff since having children and if I don't write things down they get don't get done!

I have them for work, home, going into town, Ebay and even for my dds' party plans!!

I try and break large tasks into small and manageable steps so they get ticked off quicker and I don't get too disheartened. E.g. Rather than 'clean house' I will split into downstair's loo, Hoover stairs etc. That way if I don't get the whole job done I can see that I have made some progress along the way.

I always cross off rather than tick off - so satisfying. Also the list then looks shorter.

I am getting slightly better at sharing my 'to do' list with DH now, rather than feeling I have to do it all for it to be done properly!! I am learning slowly to lower my standards in order to have more precious time!

I always have a list on my phone.

Since kids the list of broken items that need replacing is growing. Tumble dryer, microwave, iron, dishwasher. It's a boring expense that you just don't want to spend fun money on.

I also had a list of things I wanted to do like climb the 3 peaks. We did snowdon before kids but the others are on hold? I wonder if we will ever do them as the kids get old we also get older

The only thing I use lists for is food shopping...DW on the other hand spends her whole life writing them but doesn't use them going round the supermarkets....

I make lists and lists, often just abandoning them if they look too long and starting another! I do tend to put off some of the more important jobs, particularly financial decisions as they feel like they take too much time up.

DH thinks I'm a little bit list-obsessed. I have lists of lists; everything from a daily to-do list to a 5-10 year plan. I like making lists . I'm very disorganised and get distracted easily so it helps me to have it physically written down. Also I get anxious about forgetting things so a list is very reassuring to me.

I've tried various apps and websites but I like having it all in a notebook. There's something very satisfying about ticking things off!

Another list lover here who gets great satisfaction from ticking things off. However I always manage to avoid the more onerous tasks like shopping around for cheaper utilities etc but am very happy to get stuck into researching holidays etc. I use Wunderlist on my smartphone and have a folder of different lists - to do, to buy, personal, work

I tend to do lists for the fun things - holidays, birthday parties, Christmas, etc so they all run smoothly. Other things tend to either go on the phone, in my head or are conveniently forgotten!

What's been on your to-do list forever and you've so far managed to avoid ticking off?

loads of work on the house, through lack of time not motivation

What's your strategy for managing an ever-growing to do list?

do things as soon as they become a 'to do', let some things go

What impact did having children have on the list?

everything happens more slowly but I have more time in the day (not working) to do it in

Or, have you managed to tick something off? How did it make you feel? boring minor things like taking library boots back and buying winter coat didn't feel much really.

I couldn't survive without lists. I always have loads on the go at any one time including a shopping list, list of admin stuff to get done, list of direct debits and when they are coming out and lists for specific events. DH and I work four jobs between us so time is tight and I find writing lists helps me to organise my thoughts, stop panicking and ensure everything gets done.

I always have a notebook in my handbag that I write my lists in. When it is nearly full I start to get stupidly excited about the idea of going shopping to choose the next one. I also have them all from the last ten years stored in a box in the bottom of the wardrobe with "from" and "to" dates written on the front.

Occasionally I will get one out and flick through it. They bring back memories - some good and some bad - but all things I'm glad to have reminders of. For example there is one in there with a list of pro's and con's of leaving DH when I was on the verge of embarking on an affair a few years ago. I stayed and now when I read it I get quite tearful realising how far we have come

My main rule of writing a "to do" list is to always put something on it that you have already done. That way you can cross it off straight away and however overwhelming the list seems, it gives you a mental boost because it looks like you have achieved something!

don't have a to-do list, I should do it, if only there was a simple non-technological way to note down things that you need to do in a nice ordered way

to do lists are all over the place.
i find them in my bag.in cupboards.everywhere.
they can be helpful even if i never get them done just to get them out from jumbling in my brain can be very helpful.
children have a knack for swishing them off the worktop though.or losing my lists down sofas.
i do them for shopping.
for tasks around the house.one seperate for the husband.
we always have the same holiday list we print off.then items are added and taken off depending on where we go.things like buckets,spades,bikes,chargers,dvds etc.its suprsing what youd forget when your getting everyone else ready so its just good to have reminders.
lists can be helpful for mind stuff too.
when my dad was stressed he actually used to not sleep proeprly so ended up when he woke to get up and write it all down.just get it out of his mind.and went back to bed.very helpful.

I always have multiple to do lists: one in the study, one on my phone and one on the fridge. Not sure why but I do like to have a list to hand when I think of something that needs doing. I seem to add more on to the lists than I manage to cross off since children have come on the scene (even before they are born!) Sometimes it stresses me and I suddenly feel the urge to do all of the tasks and I get a few crossed off at once. The best bit about all the lists is occasionally having to rewrite them when more is crossed off than not so it's easier to read, and that is sadly satisfying!

I have to-do lists all over the place! Ones in my phone with reminders to alert me, short term post it notes on the table to catch my attention and do, and a shopping one on the fridge. I even have one beside the bed in case I remember something in bed! I keep a 'packing for holiday' one from year to year and alter if needed.
I hate it when items on my list keep hanging around and feel satisfied when they are crossed off my list! I'm the same with emails in my inbox, as soon as they are done they have to be filed away or I feel stressed! I have so much running through my brain I have to write things down else I'd forget, illness and medication has contributed to that too.

I always have multiple lists on the go. I also write lists for my hubby or nothing would ever get done. It stops me from having to ask a million times for him to do even the tiniest thing.

As for my lists, there's always something on there that needs to be done, I prioritise by doing things in order of fun (usually creative homework tasks with the LO or shopping) Housework and household tasks can stay on the list for weeks (sometimes months!)

I have avoided decorating i have walls finished, door surrounds finished but the doors i keep leaving..its been over a year now but i always forget, or rather not look at lol i hate painting doors, i love buy wallpaper in the bargain aisle though maybe i should paper the doors...I also have a pipe in the bathroom that needs painting since they installed a new shower but i forget to that too. I also keep saying i will take all the old clothes down the charity shop they are sitting in bags just waiting but time comes and goes and more goes in but never gets done and usually they end up in the loft. Ah well new year resolutions i think..better make the list and put it up now. :)

I have a whiteboard in the kitchen, we keep an ongoing shopping list on one side and a list of jobs -for DH-- to do around the house on the other side. In the middle is random things the DC will need at school that week.
People laugh at it (or that may be my retentive coloured pens for different tasks system ) but it really works for us.
Personally I use my Filofax for daily stuff that needs to happen with a very high-tech post-it note stuck in to write on in busy weeks.
My MIL is much more technologically savvy and keeps all her stuff on her phone/tablet - she watched me the other day put something in my diary and said "pepper - are you actually writing that down?" - she was genuinely incredulous at my use of pen and paper...

I always use my phone to make my to-do lists. It makes things so much easier ... I never go anywhere without my phone, but always used to forget my paper type lists!

I live by lists, it's the only way I get things done. There's nothing quite like the satisfaction of crossing something (no matter how small) off the list, I've even been known to add things I've already done just so that I can cross it off.

Before I had the children I didn't need a to-do list, it was all in my head. Now I keep it by the microwave, shopping list on one side everything else to do on the other. I also have one at work beside my computer to note down all the work things I have to do. I have recently started setting my phone with reminders in case I forget to check my to-do list. Who knew!

Oh I love lists. It stops me panicking about what I need to be doing.

I have a shopping list permanently on the go, and a to do list at home which contains short term things like dropping a parcel off, taking library books back.

I have a "long term projects which need doing round the house" list which is a bit depressing as they never seem to get done.

I have a to do list at work, otherwise I wouldn't keep track of what I need to do.

My Christmas present list was started in August!