You have a ton of things to do today. You’ve got post-it notes up to your eyeballs. You have a prison tattoo of reminders all the way up your arm, and you’re losing track of what you tied the ribbons around your fingers for.

I’ve been there. So, while it’s totally unlike me to do something so organized, I’ve become a list maker.

Photo provided by Ali Nassiri: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alinassiri/

It takes some getting used to, but I promise you’ll love it once you start.

Do
1. Sort by importance. If you have to turn in a project by tomorrow, but you need to redesign your blog (tell me about it), you should probably shelf some things that don’t need to be done immediately. Break up your list into urgent and long-term categories.
2. Set dates. If you want to have the house repainted sometime this year, don’t settle for rolling it mid-December. You’ve got to attach a date to things to make sure they get done before your list turns into a scroll.
3. Be reasonable. You don’t wear a cape, Superman (and if you do, you should probably stop). It’s impossible to do all that you want in a single day. Set reasonable goals according to how much you already have on your plate.
4. Track your progress. I highlight things once they are done on my to-do list. The more I see that I have accomplished, the more I want to take care of the rest of the items.
5. Prioritize. There are some things in life that you probably don’t put a to-do list (like calling your mom or taking a bath) but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do them. Understand the difference between priorities and tasks.
6. Be flexible. Don’t lose sleep if you said you were going to write a blog post Tuesday, but you don’t get to it until Wednesday. It’s alright if you skipped out on it to help a friend, build a relationship, or get a little rest.

Don’t

7. Procrastinate. If you need to email someone or give them a call to answer a question that will only take a minute, be like Nike, and “Just do it.” Don’t put something that will take longer to write on your list than it will to take care of it. Knock. It. Out. Keep moving.
8. Get confused. Don’t use post-it notes, and ribbons on your fingers, and the back of your hand (or up onto your arm), and Google Tasks, and a planner, and a legal pad. Pick one method and stick with it. When you’ve got 100 different ways to remember what you need to do, you’re going to forget where you even put them. My personal preference is a legal pad, because I feel like a hero when I mark something off. My second choice is Google tasks. If you’ve got access to the web wherever you go it’s a great option.
9. Get overwhelmed. Your list is going to be like your waist over the holidays—it’s guaranteed to grow, and you’re going to feel like you’ve lost control. You haven’t! Take a deep breath, start with a quick task or the most important, and just work your way down the list. Once you get in a groove, you’ll be churning out tasks like MJ cranked out the hits in the 80’s.
10. Obsess. A list is just a list. It’s not more important than your friends, or your family, or tons of other things. Live your life and simply use the list to organize it.
11. Give up. It’ll be tempting. You’ll say it’s too much work, or you don’t like to see what you have to do because you freak out. It will help though, I promise. Trust me, you’ll increase your productivity, remember what you have to get done, and, most importantly, have more time to do what really matters.