This is one of the most powerful tools in the helping yourself get things done arsenal:
1.) Delete things from your to-do list.
If this seems scary start with picking one thing on the list to delete.
I didn’t say to check it off as completed. What I meant was delete them.
If you make long lists of things to do, you probably have things on that list that don’t really need to be done or you’re not the one that needs to do them. Get them off your list. Cross them off without doing them. Frankly, it’s freeing. I take gleeful pleasure in deleting things from my list.
Your to dos should be a short, focused listing of things that you actually need to do, when you need to do these things, and nothing else. We used to always get together on the first work day of the week and come up with a list of 10 things that we wanted to get done that week. We would take time and put them in the order that they needed to be accomplished. If we didn’t manage to get through the whole list we would put them on the list again next week, where they may move up on the list as more important or they would stay in a “someday” status.
Cluttering up your list with “nice to do” and “maybe someday” will make it more difficult for you to see what you need to do TODAY. Make sure that you prioritize your list of to-do’s.
Go ahead and keep a bucket list but that isn’t what your to-do list is about. Keep your to-do list clean, short, and filled with things that you personally need to do.
