Tag Archives: to-do lists

Making a List-So You Don’t Have to Check It Twice!

Posted on by
Reply

KBB_making_a_listAfter taking a quick survey of friends, family members and café baristas (those last interviews were a little awkward), I figured out that everyone struggles when sending out Christmas cards each year. One woman even confessed that last year she sent hers on Boxing Day- not a great plan considering that’s still a holiday for postal workers.

Even though most people know me as a great advocate of anything involving written correspondence, I think they would be surprised to find that I actually struggle with Christmas cards as well. It’s not that I don’t enjoy writing them- fun pens and a glass of wine usually help with that- it’s just the sheer amount of cards that make the task so intimidating.

So what do you do when faced with a stack of blank cards?

Make like Santa Claus, and make a list.

I know, some days I think I should change my middle name to “List” (my middle initial is already L) but making a Christmas card list is easy- just write down all the names of the people to whom you send or give Christmas cards. (If you’ve already done this for your Christmas gifts, make sure you reference that list as well. Here’s how to make one here.) Make sure you include names of spouses and/or children (I think it’s nice to include everyone!).

I make this task easier every year by keeping track of all the names and addresses of people who have sent me cards the year before. There’s a copy on my computer and a copy in my command central binder for easy reference.

Find some way to differentiate between the cards that you’ll send in the mail and the cards that you’ll be delivering in person. Don’t forget to further separate your mailing list between cards that are sent nationally and internationally. Check with your local post office to see the recommended due dates for national and international mailings.

To make the process easier on myself every year, I usually keep a running total of the number of people on my list so I know how many Christmas cards to buy (although it’s always good to have extra) and so I can calculate how much I will need to spend on postage and budget accordingly. You may even want to invest in return address labels, or keep an updated file for mailing labels on your computer ready.

Then it’s just a matter of getting the creative juices flowing with a little eggnog, some carols and a Christmas cookie or two. It doesn’t have to be Shakespeare. Write about the weather, any major events that have happened to you or your family in the past year, and ask after their families and lives as well. Keep it sweet and simple.

Make sure if you’ve moved that you include a copy of your new address inside the card and on the envelope so people know where to reach you in the future. This is a great opportunity to ask for other addresses that are missing in your address book as well.

Lastly, please make sure you keep in mind the beliefs of all the people on your Christmas card list! Not everyone appreciates an über-religious card, and some people do not appreciate a Christmas card altogether. There’s nothing more embarrassing than realizing the “neutral holiday greeting card” that you’re about to give your Jewish boyfriend’s parents has a giant glittering Santa on it. (True story-it happened to a friend of mine years ago.)

Maybe you should have checked that list twice, after all.

KBwB-Flower-50

Now that you’ve checked your greeting cards off of your to-do list, you’re ready to tackle another project! Find more great ideas for organizing projects on my busy page.

 

When Those Lists Keep Adding Up

Posted on by
Reply

KBB_stack_of_filingAlmost everyone I know has a to-do list. Think about yours. It could be on a piece of paper, scrunched in a corner of your daily agenda, or neatly outlined on your Smartphone. Maybe it’s just in your head as you scramble to get out the door to do your errands.

No matter what form, we all have our ways of prioritizing all of the things we need to do in order to keep our businesses, homes or lives in order.

Now I want you to think about your list. If you’re like most people, your list is probably a mile long. You’re bound to forget one of those things, or worse: you might put it off.

Thought about that list? Great. Now ask yourself, what’s the one thing that’s been on here forever? What do I just keep forgetting? What to-do just seems to keep on slipping through the slats? You might have to dig a little deeper to think of that one thing but once you have it, grab onto it mentally and don’t let go.

Is this an exercise in procrastination? (No. I was going to write a post about that but I think I’ll just do it later.) It’s actually proof of something that I’ve only learned very recently.

To-do lists don’t work.

Now don’t immediately start composing that nasty email to me, because to-do lists have helped out a ton of people, myself included. But all too often we fall into the trap of using a to-do list as a brain dump. We write down every single little thing we’ve ever thought of doing ever, instead of just keeping it short, sweet and limited to a certain category of things.

People familiar with the practice of GTD (Getting Things Done) will remember how creator David Allen suggests organizing several to-do lists in order of context.

I have to admit that had been something that has helped me tremendously. My lists are shorter and I am much more selective about each of the items that go on each list.

This doesn’t mean you have to become a hardcore GTD convert in order to gain something from this practice. The next time you write down a to-do list for all of the errands you need to run on Saturday morning, limit the things you need to do to just that Saturday morning. If it’s not an errand, don’t add it to the list. If you do, you run the risk of losing your memory’s grip on that item and the task will never be completed. Not much of a to-do list, right?

It may seem like common sense, but you’d never include items to pick up at the grocery store on a list of things to do to clean your garage. So why would you do any of that to your to-do lists?

Try at least grouping your to-dos into like categories. You may even want to try separating those to-do lists by context, rooms in your house, or by home improvement projects. Whatever floats your boat!

Who knows? You might actually end up getting some of those nasty tasks crossed off.

KBwB-BFlower-50How many items do you have on your to-do list? I’d love to hear about yours as well. Drop me a line at keepingbusyb@gmail.com or comment below. Together let’s get them done! Looking for other projects to keep you busy? I’ve been sharing all of mine here.

Break it Down Now

Posted on by
Reply

KBB_birdseye_todos

The winter months seem to be a favorite time for everyone to recharge and re-evaluate their spaces, their careers, the way they organize things. And who would blame them? With all the cold weather it’s natural to want to hibernate inside and tackle those millions of little projects that start driving you crazy after so much time spent indoors.

I say millions of projects because most of us have them. Even if you think the items on your to-do list can be easily counted on one hand, you would be surprised at how many projects each of these incomplete items comprises.

Take for example an especially sticky task such as “organizing my office”. Action words like “organize”, “clean”, or even “figure out” make me wary. What do each of these actions mean physically?

Let’s go back to organizing that office. What would it take to get your office organized? I’m betting you there’s at least more than one step involved. In fact, there could be steps involved to the steps you have to take in order for your office to become more organized.

I’d like to get mine organized too. In order for it to look organized, however (or at least to the point where it “feels” organized), I have to complete more than one task.

  1. Get my overflowing inbox to “zero”.
  2. Organize my magazine clippings.
  3. Back-up my computer’s hard drive (not exactly a step that makes my office look physically organized, but one that makes me feel as if I am!)

The task at hand (organizing my office) has suddenly become three smaller, much more manageable tasks. Automatically my to-do list has grown larger, but the things I have to do in order to complete the list have suddenly become much more well-defined. The job of organizing my office has suddenly become much more manageable.

Having vague, sweeping notions of what it is that you need to do can become intimidating, which allows us to procrastinate or even worse, grow numb to actually doing the task. If it’s broken up in smaller, more manageable chunks you no longer need to put these tasks off because you don’t have time to put an afternoon aside, or you don’t know where to start.

Try it! Take a particularly tricky item on your to-do list and write out the steps you need to take in order to follow it through to completion. It may be that your list will grow uncomfortable long but at least you’ll find that those bite-sized chunks are a little bit easier to swallow.

KBwB-Flower-50

Juggling a part-time job with a full-time business is pretty harrowing to say the least. This is how I break down my projects, but I’d love to hear more of your tips in the comments below. Read about other ways I manage to keep busy here, and more about how I run my business here. Whenever I feel like taking a break, you’ll probably catch me reading or forcing my baking on other people. The list of projects never ends!