POSTED: 09.20.2011

Power Time Tool #2: Time Slot Your To Do List

TOPICS: Time Management

Last night I spoke to the American Subcontractors Association in San Diego and shared our next Time Planning Tool: a “Time Slotted To Do” list. When you master this tool, you can create successful day almost any day.

Power Planning Tool #2: Time Slot Your To Do List

Did you know studies show we can only remember and focus on 7 things at a time? That’s why when we’re particularly busy, we grab a piece of paper and write out a To Do list of everything that needs to be done.
Today let’s focus on an effective To Do list – one that you Time Slot into your day.

What’s the Big Deal about a To-Do List?

A written to-do list is the secret to clearing your mind of mental clutter and accomplishing more each day.When the list is more than a day’s worth of actions, it is actually considered a “Master List.” (We’ll cover that next week.)

Marcia’s Time Slotted To Do List

When you start listing items on your to-do list, you have three choices: you can put to-dos in the order they occur to you, in the time order in which you will complete them, or in priority order. I use a combination of all three. Here are the 3 steps I use each day.
1) In the morning I list what’s on my mind and desk in a running list before opening email. Listing it allows me to get the big picture and start to sort. On a good day I walk into a clear desk with the list already written the night before.

2) List the morning’s 3 Priority items in the upper right of my Planner and on a digital Post-It note on my computer screen desktop. (In iGoogle dashboard I found it in “Gadgets.” I also have their clock, calendar, and yellow stickie note.) I like doing the handwritten first. It’s a double insurance that I will get done what I set out to do.

3) The big secret: THEN I list the time I will begin and end each of the 3 big Priorities. Adding the time slot for a priority early in the day makes all the difference in getting it done. Time slots keep me on track.

One last thing: Set yourself up for success tomorrow by clearing your email In-box at the end of each day (or down as low as you possibly can).

THEN write yourself an email of with your Priority tasks just in the Subject Line. That way you’ll spot it right away and your mind will focus on your Priorities and not other people’s email priorities for you.

Cheers to a new habit – Time Slot your 3 Priorities left today and every day!