How to keep on top of your todo list

Before I became self-employed I just didn’t care for todo lists. When you have a full-time job your working day or very mapped out for you. You are given work to do and told when it needs to be done by and you just sort of work from there.

When you are self-employed and have the ability to create your own workload and work on whatever you want then having a bit organisation can be just what you need which is why being able to keep on top of your todo list is KEY!

Years ago it was very popular hit up outlets like Ryman, The Works or Captain Notepad to purchase and use Bullet Journals or other sort of diaries but more recently there has been a huge turn to using online resources to keep on top of everything.

But how can you get the most out of your todo list now matter what you are using?

Plan for tomorrow the day before

This is a great tip so that you begin each day with a bit of direction. It doesn’t have to be specific instructions but just ideas for things you want to take a look at tomorrow and then you can take it from there in the morning.

Keep it simple

This goes without saying but when you are self employed and don’t necessarily have access to a sounding board it’s very easy to overthink and overcomplicate things. You can come up with the most amazing things that need doing but you need to consider if you will have the time to do it, how easy will it be to do and how urgent it is to see if it’s really worthy of being on your todo list.

Apply time management to your list

No one works at 100% all day long. For some of us we might be better in the morning than the afternoon or maybe we just like to do 2 or 3 hours in the evening. You need to consider all this and set your goals accordingly. Maybe give yourself bulky tasks to do in the morning when you have more drive and the afternoon could just be a handful of easy admin tasks.

Remember to reward yourself

It’s very easy to lose track of just how hard you are working and with no real structure to your day it’s even easier to just keep on ploughing through with tasks on your list. It’s equally as important to remember to reward yourself when you achieve these goals. This could be in the form of some time out away from work, or maybe going out for a nice meal for lunch. Gamification is becoming such a huge movement in the self-employed world at the moment and there are websites out there like Habitica which reward you with a little endorphin rush each time you knock something of your todo list.

Use an Extras List

This is a great idea and a todo list you can use as a dumping ground of sorts for all your ideas. It means that if you are struggling with a particular item on your list you could move up to your extras list and instead do something from there. This will give you the feeling that you are still being productive and help keep you motivated.

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