Many of us make to-do lists. They are usually long and filled with a variety of tasks. Not only is it essential to prioritize the list of items, but also to estimate how long each task will take. Often when you do this, you find that you have two days worth of to-dos on your list. One thing that drains our energy is feeling overwhelmed and distracted. When you have long to-do lists that aren’t even reasonable to accomplish, often far less gets done.
If you take your list, budget for how long important tasks will take, then you can better plan them into your day. If you have a 10-minute task, you can schedule it for a 15-minute downtime. If you don’t do this, people usually take 10 minutes just to figure out what they’re going to do and then only have 5 minutes left to do something, which isn’t enough time, so nothing gets done (or they start a project and are stressed and then they are late for the next appointment).
It also helps you plan your day to see that you need 2 hours of block time to “eat your frog” (the #1 most important item on your to-do list). This way, you can plan your day around getting that big thing off your plate. I guarantee that when you take the weight of a big project off your shoulders first thing in the morning, you’ll be supercharged and excited for the rest of the day. Then knowing what you will do, how long it will take, and “budgeting” when you will do it creates a clear focus and drive to accomplish much more in your day.
To put this into practice:
1. Take your prioritized to-do list and write behind each one how long each one will take (always write extra time, not less).
2. Look at your schedule for the day and plan when you will do what tasks. If you have a big task, see how you can break it down into parts that fit into your day.
3. Write down specifically what you will be doing on the calendar (i.e., budget 1 hour to write a newsletter. Have a 15 minute morning opening; plan to write the introduction to the newsletter, then schedule 30 minutes later in the day to write the lead article. Finally, schedule 15 minutes in the afternoon to edit the newsletter).