How many times have you been doing something and realized you needed to do ten more things to get the job done.  Often times when I think about one thing it leads me to think or brainstorm about so many additional things that I need to handle.  We tend to create a massive to do list that then becomes overwhelming, things start to get lost on the list and we are right back to where we started from, forgetting important things that need to get done and skipping over others.

Use a master list to keep track of things and use a sub list to work on things.

The idea is that you should have a master list of things to do (probably what you are working with now) and a sublist or a GTD list (a list of items to get done today).

[click here to get your copy of our GTD template]

Here is a breakdown of how to setup and use this list

I recommend using a spreadsheet app - excel, google docs or __________ are good applications to use to do this.  You can always use paper, but I find having it in electronic form is better and I'll explain why below.

You want to have some main columns on your sheet:

Name of the task, description of the task, priority of the task, category of the task, assigned person for the task, due date, status, notes/comments

The key purpose of the name of the task is to give it a high level summary, something you can glance over and know what it is.

The Description of the task should provide as much detail as needed to complete the task at hand.

Priority of the Task helps you segment the list based on high, average or low priority

Category allows you to segment based on the type of task it is (i.e., house, personal, website, social media, weightloss, etc.)

Assigned Person is an optional field but if this is a master list for a team or a group of people it is always great to know who is handling it or what is supposed to happen with it.  It should be the point person that is responsible for the overall status of the task, not necessarily who is going to do the physical work.  if you are the only person using this list then you could eliminate this column.

The due date is a field that you may or may not use, this is task specific but it helps you to prioritize your work.

Status tells you whether you are done or not.  I have used various different status, but the most common are not started, in progress, on hold and completed.  If it is a business type of task list you may add an enhancement request, issue status or training status as well.

Notes/Comments column is to capture any additional information that is needed.  If you have supplimental information, a link or direction on where to find something that needs to be used to complete the task then enter that information here.

[get your copy of the template here]

Now that you have your master list built, you can create your own system for picking which tasks will get done.  You can sort by category, due date and priority to see what pops up to the top of your list.  This is one of the main reasons I recommend putting the list in a spreadsheet electronic form because it provides you the ability to sort your list based on what you are working on.  Maybe you want to pick three things to tackle from your self, personal and business categories.  Well this will make your selection process easier.

As you finish tasks and have more time you can sort your list and fill it up with other things that need to get done.

This is great for when you have pockets of time and need to accomplish specific things, you can pick things from your list that can be completed in small spurts and make sure they are with you during the week, so when you are sitting in the waiting room at your doctors office or at the ball field waiting on your child you can pull it out and knock it out.

I hope this has been helpful and will prove to help you be more successful in your tasklist completion process.

I'd love to hear if you are going to try to implement this in your life.