Ah the to-do list. It’s truly an art form. And one that’s easy to get so, so wrong!

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, if you’re already working off a daily to-do list, you’re a step ahead! And bonus points if your to-do list is written down – a 2011 Journal of Personality and Social Psychology study found that writing down what we want to do makes us more likely to do it (Fast Company).

Want to start making a better to-do list? You’ve come to the right place. Here’s a round up of the best tips for making an effective to-do list, and my secret hack for getting twice as much done every day.

Why Are To-Do Lists Important?

First thing’s first, why do you even NEED a to-do list?

Keeping a to-list helps you stay organized, and organizing your tasks with a list can make everything much more manageable.

There’s also the psychological reward element of using a to-do list. As you cross items off your to-do list, you’ll feel a sense of progress and accomplishment, and the affirmation that you are making progress will help motivate you to keep moving forward, and to continue to be productive.

Having a list of all your tasks will allow you to sit down and make a plan. One study showed that “fifteen minutes spent planning could save an hour of execution time!” (Toodledo.com)

Another reason why to-do lists are helpful is that they help fight overwhelm. Writing down tasks immediately makes them achievable, and helps lay out our days in a visual, concrete, conquerable way.

How to Make an Effective To-Do List

Here’s a step by step guide for how to make an effective to-do list:

1.) Make a “master” list

The best way to start your daily to-do list is by writing down EVERY possible thing you’d like to get done today. Do a “brain dump” and write down every task: every work task, every home task, every side-hustle task, meetings, appointments, workouts… write it ALL down!

Getting tasks out of your head and onto paper is the best place to start.

P&P Tip: Writing down tasks is also an effective stress and anxiety reliever. This is why many experts recommend keeping a pen and paper next to your bedside table. We all know that feeling of not being able to sleep because your brain just won’t turn off – an endless stream of to-dos and worries keep you up, and you just lay there, paralyzed with anxiety. Instead of lying in worry, simply grab that pen and paper (or a note on your smartphone), and write down what’s bugging you. That way you KNOW you won’t forget about it by the time morning rolls around, when you’ll be far more prepared to tackle any issue. 

This is also a great tip for creative types – I don’t know about you, but some of my best ideas come to me right as I’m drifting off to sleep or in the middle of the night! Having a pen and paper next to your bedside ensures that these ideas get captured.

2.) Categorize and segment your to-dos

Once you’ve written down everything you can think of that you’d like to (or need to) get done today, the next step is to break these tasks out into categories. Categories like:

-Work (break out “meetings” as a separate category within work)

-Personal

-Side Hustle

-Fitness/Workout

-Errands

Over the years, I’ve actually gotten the layout of my daily to-do list down to a science. I basically create 4 quadrants, but the top half (work-related) is much longer than the bottom half (personal-related).

In the top-left quadrant are all my work to-dos – tasks that I want to/need to get done today. I usually will add sub-labels within this task by client, or type of work.

In the top-right quadrant are my work meetings – tasks/meetings that are time-bound and cannot be moved.

In the bottom-left quadrant are my personal to-dos – things I’d like to get done today, and can mostly do from my computer. I usually write a big letter “P” with a circle around it at the top of this section.

In the bottom-right quadrant are my personal errands & time-bounds tasks – things that require me to travel somewhere (like the gym for my workout, or the post office to mail a package), or meeting someone (dinner, drinks, rehearsals, etc).

Here’s an example of one of my 4-quadrant lists in action:

This is one page of hundreds in my current notebook – I’ve been using this method forever, and I promise, it really works!

(You’ll see in the screenshot above that pretty much everything is crossed off – but some lines are straight and some are squiggly… I’ll get into why when I reveal my personal productivity-charging “hack” below…)

3.) Prioritize your list

After you write down every possible task and section them out into categories, go back and star your top three tasks, so you know what’s the most important.

Or you can use the “ABCDE” method, popularized by public figure, Brian Tracy.

Looking at all the tasks on your master list, go through and assign each item, line-by-line, with one of the following letters.

“A” Task – You should only write “A” next to 1-2 items on your list. These tasks are very important, and there may be negative consequences if you do not complete them. Be very mindful of what you label as an “A” task! I’ll explain why in a minute…

“B” Task – “B” tasks are important, but not AS important as “A” tasks. You should do them, but there are only minor negative consequences if they are not checked off.

“C” Task – “C” tasks are nice to-do. If you don’t complete a “C” task today, there shouldn’t be any consequences. Housework and many errands easily fall into the category of “C” tasks.

“D” Task – Delegate! Take a hard look at your master list and see what you can task out or ask someone else to. All too often (especially as women), we feel we need to do EVERYTHING. And usually, that’s not the case! This works especially well with work tasks, or group tasks.

“E” Task – Looking at your master list, what can you “eliminate” completely? Either by pushing the task to another day, or by literally eliminating it completely, “E” tasks are those you can move off your plate (so you can spend more of your valuable time on your A & B tasks).

The ABCDE method is great because it forces you to take a good hard look at what’s important and what’s not. When your to-do list gets long, it’s easy to just start at the top and work down, hoping that you fit everything in. Or, we get trapped in the cycle of working on our “easy” tasks first, leaving the tough stuff or the urgent stuff for “later,” and when we finally DO get around to them, we’re stressed and low on time!

The key to success with the ABCDE method is – after labeling your daily tasks – start on your “A” tasks first. This will ensure that your most important work of the day gets prioritized. And even though sometimes it’s difficult to find the motivation to get started first thing in the morning with a particularly tough task, the sense of accomplishment and confidence boost you get after completing it will be well-worth it!

4. Break it down

With your daily to-do list, being incredibly specific is a must. Writing down “work on research paper” as one of your tasks isn’t going to get you a tangible result at the end of the day. Rather, keep “work on research paper” as a master task, but add in bulleted sub-tasks that serve as specific action items. For example:

• Work on research paper
  • Find 3 relevant sources
  • Write at least 5 pages
  • Email professor about bibliography question

See? Much more specific and actionable. And don’t be afraid of the phrase “at least” (only in the context of list making) or “minimum” – setting a bar for yourself will give you a goal to shoot for. If you write more than “at least 5 pages,” great! That’s just icing on top of the cake.

The Daily To-Do List Hack That Will Supercharge Your Productivity

Now that we’ve talked about how important it is to create a daily to-do list, and how to create an effective list, I want to reveal a “hack” that has completely revolutionized my productivity levels.

Ready? Here it is:

Don’t make your to-do list in the morning. Make your to-do list for the next day the night before. 

While making your to-do list first thing in the morning certainly works, it has its disadvantages. For example, pretty much all of us check our email and our social media very early on in our morning routines. It helps us feel connected to the world (and can help us wake up if we’re still lying in bed!)

But the bad thing about checking your email, social media, and other communication vehicles before we “start our day” is that it inherently sets our day up to be reactive instead of proactive. So, when we go to prioritize our days, we are already distracted and reactive to other people’s needs and wants, instead of starting the day with clear initiatives and priorities of our own.

By making your to-do list the night before, you set yourself up for success. You are already mentally primed for your highest-priority tasks, and you have your “eyes on the prize.”

Making your to-do list the night before (at the end of each “work” day – whether you’re in an office or freelance) is also a great way to ensure nothing gets forgotten. This is the trick that has really amplified my productivity and output. As the day goes on, I cross tasks off my list as I complete them. At the end of the day, if there are still tasks left that I didn’t get to (which there ALWAYS are), then I immediately start my to-do list for the next day on a new page, and transfer those tasks to the very top.

And how do I keep track of this? Well as you can see in the screenshot of one of my “completed” task lists above, most tasks have a (more or less) straight line through them. These are standard task completions. At the end of the day, if I do not get to a task and am choosing to move it to the next day’s to-do list, I “cross” through it with a big squiggly line. That way I still get the psychological satisfaction of crossing things off my list, but I also can account for each item and make sure nothing falls through the cracks. If I look at my list and something is completely not-crossed off, it’s a red flag.

Sometimes this is a strategic move – when 4:00 pm rolls around, my creative energies are pretty much spent. So even though I plan to work for a couple more hours, I know that any writing that happens after 4:00 isn’t going to be my best, so I choose to plan ahead and move that task to my to-do list tomorrow, to complete it first thing in the morning.

What are your favorite tips and tricks for making an effective to-do list? Share in the comments!