Getting things done is more important than writing things down

There are more suggestions for keeping To Do lists than there are things to do. Some experts suggest that you write your list of things to do on a sheet of paper and then mark them A, B or C according to their importance. Then you would work on the As first, followed by the Bs and then the Cs. Others suggest you copy over the list so they are in descending order of importance, start with the top item and then work your way down the list. Still others suggest that you start your list in the middle of the page, adding the more important items above and the less important items below. This way you wouldn’t have to mark the items or copy them over in order to identify the priorities.

Some experts suggest that the priorities be written in red so they’ll stand out. Some suggest multiple colors depending on the type of thing that’s to be done. Some claim that To Do items should be listed in your planner and not on a separate sheet. Some advise that the items be written in pencil to facilitate change. Others advise ink to facilitate commitment. There are those who promote traveling To Do lists on sticky notes that can be moved from one day to the next if they aren’t completed, those who promote electronic lists in a Palm or other handheld computer and those who recommend audio To Do lists, dictated into a pocket recorder while traveling. Occasionally you even see human To Do lists where items are scribbled on arms or wrists.

Experts have suggested you spread your To Do list over several days or weeks so you are not overwhelmed. Experts have also suggested you schedule To Do items at specific times in your planner, break the To Do lists into different categories such as write, see and phone or keep a master To Do list that organizes all the individual To Do lists.

There are magnetic To Do lists for the refrigerator, pin-on To Do lists for corkboards and self-adhesive To Do lists for a variety of surfaces. There are even Not To Do lists, which many people consider to be more realistic. Yet in spite of all the good, bad and conflicting advice, the basic problem of having too many things to do still remains. We can never seem to complete everything on our To Do list. Through the ages the To Do list problem has persisted, whether chiseled into a stone tablet or scribbled on parchment with a quill pen. You can only imagine what the earlier To Do lists contained. Probably such things as clear out spare cave for mother-in-law, sharpen spear, kill boar for dinner and take out garbage. (Some things never change.) Regardless, there were no doubt things on our great great grandparent’s lists that never got done either.

More important than the methods for keeping To Do lists are the methods for keeping commitments. A To Do list does little more than keep track of our intentions. They do nothing to further the completion of a task, nor do they strengthen our resolve to get things done on time. Time management training should have less to do about To Do lists and more to do about getting things done. This involves prioritizing, focusing on the more important tasks, saying no to the trivial, budgeting time and building self-discipline and maintaining motivation. Next to these things, whether we write our To Do lists on index cards, enter them into our computer or jot them on the back of an envelope pales in significance. All this to do about To Do lists is much ado about nothing.