

Forcing yourself to choose a 1-3-5 list means the things you get done will be the things you chose to do-rather than what just happened to get done. Like it or not, you only have so many hours in the day and you’re only going to get a finite number of things done. Yes, I know it can be tough to narrow your list of to-dos down to 1-3-5-but it's important to prioritize. If your position is one where each day brings lots of unexpected tasks, try leaving one medium and two small tasks blank, in preparation for the last-minute requests from your boss. (Note: if you spend much of your day in meetings, you might need to revise this down a bit.) Before leaving work, take a few minutes to define your 1-3-5 for the next day, so you're ready to hit the ground running in the morning.

On any given day, assume that you can only accomplish one big thing, three medium things, and five small things. Now that you have a comprehensive list of everything you have to do for work ever, you should define a daily to-do list. I personally like to write these down on sticky notes, and then delete or toss them once I’ve transferred them to the master list. Make sure, however, that you can add to your list from anywhere-which means that if you use a desktop app, you’ll want to set up a system to capture to-dos incurred away from your computer, such as assignments you get while in a meeting. It can be anywhere: a handwritten list inside your trusty planner, a document you keep on your desktop, or an app on your phone. So pick your method of choice, and start consolidating. Instead, you have a few post-its here, a saved draft in your email there, stickies or text files on your computer, and maybe an app or two on your phone.Īnd while it's generally good practice to separate work and play, having a single place for your work-related tasks is a must. Let's be honest: If you wanted to get a complete view of everything you had to do for work right now, chances are you can’t find it all on a single list. Here are five tricks to increase your productivity and help yourself actually make it through your list. So if you're sick of tackling the same stale to-dos every day, it’s time to change that.
