How To Prioritize Your To-Do List and Make Time for What Actually Matters
Feeling weighed down by your to-do list lately?
You’re not alone.
If you’re any kind of entrepreneur or small business owner, you know the struggle of the “never-ending to-do list”. Seriously, my to-do list never ends. When I check off one thing, five more items pop up. It can be frustrating, overwhelming, and disheartening at times.
And it can also be freeing — because if you know your to-do list is always going to be there, it gives you all the more reason to put your to-do list to the side more often and enjoy life.
So, first things first, how do we manage all of the tasks we have to get done in a day, week, month, or year to make time for more of the things we actually want to be doing?
In this article, I’ll share my tips and tricks I’ve gathered as an entrepreneur to tackle my seemingly never-ending to-do list and create more balance in my life.
Organize your tasks by category
To best prioritize your to-do list, it’s critical to get organized. There are so many ways you can go about this, and I’ll be sharing some of my recommendations and what I’ve found works for me.
Start by creating a master list of everything you can think of that needs to get done in either the near or distant future (1). Don’t worry if it’s messy or disorganized at first — you can fix it up later. This list can include your goals, random personal tasks, projects at work… really anything you can think of.
Next, create a smaller list from that master list of monthly goals and to-do’s (anything that needs to get done by the end of whatever month you’re in). Next, weekly. What from your master list needs to get accomplished this week? Finally, daily. What are essential items for the coming days? (1)
Getting clear on specific timelines and organizing your master brainstorm list into smaller lists will help you prioritize what needs to get done, and help you visualize a step-by-step plan of what needs to happen when. And you can choose whatever medium works best for you — whether it’s on a piece of paper, in a Word document, spreadsheet, or even a resource like Notion. Notion is a free tool and a great option for people who prefer operating in a digital space to get organized.
I’d also recommend limiting your daily list to three major items. The length of what “needs to get done” will depend on your job and other circumstances, however, the idea here is to simply give yourself some grace. It’s impossible to be productive every day, so each morning, write down three non-negotiable items that must get done. Even if you’re not able to complete anything else, you can end the day feeling good about what you accomplished.
Get clear on the things that are most important to you
The next way to prioritize your to-do list is to establish what’s most important to you in your life. What do you want to spend your time doing? What fills you up the most?
Obviously, there are certain tasks in our lives that need to happen whether we like them or not. And if we get clear on what’s most important and the main priorities in our lives, we’ll become closer to being more in control of our time, energy, and to-do lists.
This self-reflection doesn’t have to be formal. You might already know what’s most important to you without thinking much about it. For example, I know what fills me up the most is spending time with family, meditating, reading, doing yoga, and being in nature. So, I make the conscious choice to make those things a priority in my life.
I uploaded a YouTube video a while back called How To Prioritize Tasks on Your To-Do List. In that video, I spoke about an experience I had with a friend who reminded me about the importance of saying ‘yes’ to things we enjoy, even if our to-do list still has unchecked items.
At a certain point in my career, I began to realize the things that mattered most to me were the things I ought to spend more time doing — go figure! So, I started taking control of my to-do list and dictating when I wanted to get things done, rather than the other way around.
I realized that if it was a beautiful sunny day, I could afford to step away from my list and go outside, even for only fifteen minutes. Ask yourself what matters most to you in your own life and then do those things. Trust that what needs to be done will get done and know that your list isn’t going anywhere.
Establish a consistent morning routine that feels good
I use the word “routine” loosely here. The reality is, all we really need is one or two things that we do consistently to set us up for success. If you can fill your own cup first before tackling your daily to-do list, this will allow you to be even more productive throughout the day because you’ve already addressed some of your basic needs.
Establishing a routine that sets you up for the day doesn’t have to mean that you have to be up by 5 am, working out, meditating, journaling, reading, eating, showering all by the time your workday starts. I mean, if that’s you then more power to you and I’m envious of your discipline.
If nothing else, choose a ritual that gets you excited to wake up. Whether that be brewing yourself a hot cup of coffee and mindfully drinking for five minutes, going on a walk, reading a few chapters of a good book, the list goes on. Try to get your body moving in some way if you can, avoid checking your emails or social media first thing, and take a few minutes just for you (2). You’ll notice a huge difference in your productivity and happiness throughout the day.
Create a schedule to maximize productivity
Another way to better prioritize your to-do list and manage your time is to create a rough schedule of when things get done in your workday. This schedule can simply be a couple of times either throughout the day or week that you dedicate to something specific. This could mean that you tackle the work that requires the most focused brainpower in the morning, and your afternoons can be used for trivial tasks like responding to emails or taking calls (3).
I personally follow the entrepreneurial time system by Strategic Coach called Free, Focus, and Buffer Days. Free Days are days entirely disconnected from work and are for rejuvenation, Focus Days are centered on money-making activities, and Buffer Days are for preparation (4).
If you’re one of those lucky people who can create their own schedule, I highly recommend implementing this kind of system (or something similar) into your own life. This is so you’re able to establish a consistent routine each day and week, which gives you more control over how your work fits into your lifestyle and when you’re most focused.
If your schedule is currently dictated by someone else, you can still take control. As an idea, maybe you only check your email at certain points throughout the day. That way, you’re not constantly distracted by notifications all day long and you can focus on the other tasks that need to get done.
Take frequent breaks
The final way to prioritize tasks on your to-do list and make time for things that matter, is to do less. Okay, let’s backtrack here. We’ve been told our whole lives that the more hours we spend equals more that we’re able to get done. I mean, the more effort we put into something the better results we’ll get, right?
Wrong.
We can spend hours and hours on something, only to realize that the result isn’t as great as we’d hoped. Or even worse — it sucks. Forcing ourselves to work for hours and hours may seem productive on the outside, and it actually might be the case that we’re producing poorer results than we would have within the first one or two hours (5).
All of this is to emphasize the importance of breaks, and how necessary they are for our productivity. Stepping away from work for a while will allow you to come back and produce better results than if you’d just “powered through” the entire time. And if your job involves staring at a screen most of the day, all the more reason to look away frequently and walk around to stretch your legs.
One of my favourite productivity hacks that highlights the importance of breaks for our brain is something called the Pomodoro method (6). If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a technique that suggests you pick a task or project and set a timer for twenty-five minutes of focused work, followed by a five-minute break (repeated as necessary). This method is science-backed, and I’ve found it to be incredibly useful for getting more done in a shorter period of time. Especially with a task like writing a blog post, for example.
There are tons of videos on YouTube that have a Pomodoro method follow-along style, where they play music for 25 minutes and have a timer when it’s time to break. I’ve also been a long-time user of the Focus At Will app, which offers music and sounds that are scientifically proven to help you focus. There are so many amazing resources out there, and it’s all about choosing the method that works best for you and your lifestyle.
Conclusion
When prioritizing tasks on your to-do list, it’s important to stay organized and have some sort of visual for yourself of what needs to get done by certain deadlines, like daily, weekly, monthly, etc. That way, there are no surprises and you can easily establish priorities. It’s also a good idea to limit your daily to-do’s to a few items that are a must, so even if you have “one of those days” that we all experience every once in a while, you can feel great knowing you got done what needed to be done.
In order to be more in control of your days, get used to asking yourself what you need in a day or week to feel fulfilled. Is it spending ample time with your family? Being outdoors? Get clear on what fills you up the most and work those items into your list. Some days, it might require tossing your list to the side for a bit — which is okay, you’ll get back to it.
Create a morning routine that feels good and sets you up for a productive day and come up with a rough daily schedule for yourself. This way, you can capitalize on your best times for focused work vs. task-oriented work or calls. Finally, remember to take breaks. While it may feel like a waste of time in the moment, I promise you it isn’t. Taking breaks is good for your mental health and will allow you to get way more done in the long run, so that you can free up more time for the things that matter most to you.
If you try out any of these productivity tips/methods for conquering your to-do list, be sure to let us know over on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. We’re always publishing new content under the umbrella of communication and connection — we’d love for you to be part of the conversation.
Happy to-do listing!
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