The better way to create and complete your task list

This strategy for creating and organizing a task list makes completing your to do list a breeze.

Completing a to-do list on time can often seem impossible. Most people tend to procrastinate until their task list becomes so long they are afraid to even look at it. This is often due to not focusing on the right tasks each day. The simple strategy outlined below comes from The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris. It will help to ensure the most essential items on your task list get done every day.

Steps to create and complete a task list:

1. Every day by 9 AM create a task list by writing down ALL tasks for that day.

2. Next, rate each task one through ten in terms of what the negative impact would be if a task if NOT completed that day. Ten being the worst possible consequence.

3. Now pick the three tasks on your task list with the highest rating.

4. Focus all your attention on completing those essential tasks by the end of the day.

It doesn’t seem like much but by following this simple process you will avoid the pitfall of spending too much of your time and energy on non-essential tasks. It is amazing the amount of relief we feel once we complete our highest-rated tasks since those tasks on our to-do list typically cause us the most stress. If you can complete those three tasks every day then that’s a successful day.

Example of a “1” rated task:

If Jessica doesn’t reply to Greg’s email about that question Bob asked, he may be slightly annoyed and send her a follow-up email.

Example of a “10” rated task:

If Jessica doesn’t reply to Greg’s email about that question Bob asked, she may lose her job.

Example task list

Here is an example of how my friend Justin prepares his task list each day. First he lists all his tasks. Then he rates each task. He then circles the three tasks that have the highest potential negative impact if they are not completed. Lastly, he then transfers them to his “Essential Tasks” list. Now he has the essential tasks that he will look to complete that day.

If you need another good tip for getting your personal to-do’s done you can check out our post on how to create your own personal Trello board.