Transforming Your To-Do List For a More Productive Lifestyle

As a high school student, I have realized that managing my time is super important. Every day, students and people in the workforce must complete so many tasks, and it's easy to not have enough time to do those tasks, or even worse, forget about those tasks altogether. This can cause feelings of stress, dissatisfaction, and confusion with yourself at the end of the day. You may then begin to tell yourself you were too "busy" to do everything. Does that accomplish your goal of leading a productive lifestyle? I would think not.

Below is a step-by-step process of how I am able to stay on track every day, no matter how "busy" I may be. As long as you know how to make the right to-do list, you'll have time for everything. This even works for when you have a full day of school and two hour practices for sports/theater after!

#1 - Write down/type your tasks in no particular order.

Whether it's on a chart in a Google doc or a regular list on a sticky note, write down your tasks. The order does not matter. As long as you write down everything you need to accomplish that day, you are good to go. Just write down what comes to your head.

#2 - Break down your tasks

Breaking down your list into more specific tasks can help you gain more clarity and direction on what you actually need to do. Always ask yourself, "How am I going to do x?"

For example, one of your tasks may be to study for a chemistry test. How are you going to study for this specific test? Break it down. You can do practice problems, redo past homework, and review past quizzes. Now that you have these specific tasks, you actually have a sense of direction, rather than being overwhelmed by one large task.

#3 - Estimate how long each task will take

Now that you have all your specific tasks from #2, you also have a new list. Estimate and write down how much time each of these tasks will take.

Referring to our previous example, let's say practice problems take you 15 minutes, redoing past homework takes you 30 minutes, and reviewing past quizzes takes you 20 minutes. After figuring out your times, you have your study session's length planned out for you.

#4 - Prioritize Your Tasks

Okay, so now you know all the things you need to do and how long they will take you. But where on this list do you even start? This is where prioritizing comes into play.

I prioritize by:

- Task that needs to be done the earliest (like a Biology worksheet due tomorrow)

- Most difficult to least difficult tasks (like doing an English paper that is also due tomorrow but is more difficult than the Biology worksheet)

Write down the number next to your task. For example, I might put English paper (1), Bio worksheet (2), and wash dishes (3)

#5 - Write down how you want to feel

At the end of the day, we want to feel like we truly made the most of the past 24 hours. But what does that mean to you? Write that feeling down at the top of your list as a reminder/motivation to push through.

Final Takeaway

I hope this helps anyone who is struggling with time management and has the tendency to procrastinate. Although this has not solved ALL of my problems, it gives me direction and a sense of clarity about doing what I need to do, and actually getting it done. I know that with time and discipline, this will do the same for you.

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