My To-Do List System
There are some websites dedicated to the humble “To-Do” list where you can find all kinds of tips and even samples of real peoples lists.
I’ve never found an online or web-based to-do system to be effective for me. I guess I like the tactile nature of a paper based system.
I have played around quite a bit finding a system that seems to be flexible enough for anything that I throw at it, but still simple enough to be easily used and understandable at a glance.
My Latest System
Since I good to-do system can make a big difference in terms of productivity I thought I’d share my current system, since it has been working really well for me.
The Elements
Like I said I like paper based systems, and the magic of this system is the humble sticky-note. It affords my paper based system to have many of the flexibilities of a digital system. I can edit, sort, shuffle and recombine or mash-up items from my lists and then put them all back if need be.
Advantages
As you finish a task, you remove it. I love the feeling of seeing the papers get more empty as opposed to previous to-do lists that get messier as you finish tasks. This clearing up space is a subtle but powerful metaphor; and it more accurately matches the process of getting things done.
Visually pleasing. If you have a bit of discipline, and create the sticky notes with a system of colored notes and pens, the pages end up with a visually appealing look. This reinforces a sense of calm and order which can be important when tackling a big list!
Scan-able lists. Related to the previous point, but if the pages all contain only 10 or 12 items maximum, they are scan-able, which is important when deciding which one to tackle next and for prioritizing.
Mix and match. The best part of this system is that you can mix and match your lists. I usually go over all the lists each night and create a “Today” page for the next day. I just grab a few tasks and then prioritize them onto one list as my next day’s most important things to get done.
Here Is How it Looks
Above is the basic with my four sheets of letter size paper. I sort them according to priority. Then I can select individual sticky-notes tasks and create a “today” sheet.
These are my monthly lists. They allow me to begin to see what I want to accomplish a couple months out.
Here’s a close up of a current month sheet. If one of the projects on here [like the "New Theme Ready" one above] has a lot of sub-tasks then I’ll create a separate sheet for it and remove the stickies from that sheet. When they are all done, then I’ll remove this one.
The goal is to remove all the stickies, before I run out of month!!
Any comments on this system? How about your own to-do systems, please share, I find that they are a fascinating form of personal archeology 
- Jon Symons
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Comments ( 24 )
A sticky note todo list…
Blogger Jon Symons passed on all the digital ways to track his tasks and instead devised a sticky-note based todo list system where he sticks on tasks and pulls ‘em off when they’re done. …the magic of this system……
Lifehacker added these pithy words on Feb 08 07 at 6:32 pm[...] While I like crossing items off a paper list, Jon has a point about that making a list messier than anything else. Sounds like pulling off those physical stickies each time you finished something would be very satisfying. Thanks, Brian! — Gina Trapani My To-Do List System [Art of Money] [...]
Blog Mirrors » A sticky note todo list added these pithy words on Feb 08 07 at 7:35 pmThe Downside of a stick note todo list…
While a sticky note todo list (via Lifehacker ) looks good, is easy to use and very haptic, there is one downside you can’t deny: You cannot share it with remote team members. But this is a problem sticky note todo lists share with most todo list s…
Mindquarry Blog added these pithy words on Feb 09 07 at 7:20 am[...] My To-Do List System – a sticky-note system for tracking the to-do list. [...]
Bits and Pieces - February 10 « Ian’s Messy Desk added these pithy words on Feb 09 07 at 12:32 pm[...] Jon Symons simplemente utiliza post-its para gestionar sus tareas. Es una manera muy visual y práctica para gestionar tareas. Al finilizar una tarea simplemente sacas el post-it. Art of Money (inglés) [...]
Fuera del canasto, semana 6 — El Canasto added these pithy words on Feb 09 07 at 11:45 pm[...] (with crappy pictures because I was too lazy to wait until daylight to take good ones) about my sticky note to-do list system. A couple days later it got picked up on Life Hacker and I quadrupled my best traffic day ever with [...]
Speedlinking - Logos, Newsweek and Gekko | Art Of Money added these pithy words on Feb 28 07 at 2:28 pm[...] Comments Pat B. Doyle on My Top 5 Hard Earned Productivity TipsSuzie Cheel on My To-Do List SystemJon on My To-Do List SystemSuzie Cheel on My To-Do List SystemJon on What Produces the Best Results, [...]
My Top 5 Hard Earned Productivity Tips added these pithy words on Aug 16 07 at 5:36 am[...] Art of Money [...]
Christmas Link Love | Stephan Miller added these pithy words on Dec 25 07 at 5:52 amJiri Novotny added these pithy words on Feb 07 07 at 7:17 amWell, I guess I am a bit biased, but I use my own software called Swift To-Do List. It is kind of a repository of all my tasks. It’s best for me to print or write a small to do list for each day and then synchronize it with my Swift To-Do List. The best thing about STDL is that it has an unlimited to do list tree with icons, which helps a lot to organize all my to do lists and tasks. It also has recurrent reminders, and lots of other features, you can check it out at:
http://www.dextronet.com/swift-to-do-list.phpWe also have a free lite version over there.
I hope that this comment is OK ^^
Kimber added these pithy words on Feb 07 07 at 9:20 amI’m just a list girl though I list on a monthly calendar with due dates (if there are no due dates, I assign one).
Works for me.
Brian (dad to 3) added these pithy words on Feb 07 07 at 11:24 amI like it. My post it pad sometimes turns into a book as I write things on the 2nd-Nth pages without removing the 1st one. Having labeled pages to put them on is a good idea.
Andrew added these pithy words on Feb 08 07 at 9:26 pmJon
Post Its are a great tool.
Have you seen David Straker’s book, “Rapid Problem Solving with Post-It Notes”. Awesome.
Nitesh Gautam added these pithy words on Feb 08 07 at 11:01 pmNice post and really very helpful post for those who are still addicted with stickies
Thanks
Jeroen Sangers added these pithy words on Feb 09 07 at 1:12 amNice idea. Do you take your sheets with you when you’re on the road?
How many to-do’s do you normally have? I currently use Outlook, and my latest count would be over 200 tasks. I would need a huge sheet of paper to track all!
Jon added these pithy words on Feb 09 07 at 8:21 am@Jeroen, yes, I do. In the pics you can’t see it well but they are help up with magnets, so they are portable.
I have actually been up to 200 sometimes, and then I go from 8.5 x 11 to 11 x 17 sheets of paper. You wouldn’t want them all on one piece, instead break it down into categories, it’s easier to manage.
Jennifer added these pithy words on Feb 09 07 at 10:00 amYour idea intrigues me, but I still like Remember the Milk better because you can tag stuff. Also, I have a lot more things on my list than you seem to in your picture. My hand would get tired writing all those post its. I used to try to do something like this with index cards, but it was too slow and cumbersome.
Jon added these pithy words on Feb 09 07 at 10:12 am@Jennifer…what is “Remember the Milk”?
If I find myself with a lot more things than this [currently there are about 6 pages with about 7-10 each on them] then I seriously think about asking myself, “is this a realistic list.”
When I was at my last job, I used to tease my boss, which included a not to subtle complaint of being overworked, by saying, “my favorite way of getting things done is to let them decay off of the bottom of my list.”
It was a joke, but there is some truth in it, sometimes you just have to get out the scissors and remove some tasks that, realistically, you’ll never get to or aren’t really working to what is most important for your life.
Austin added these pithy words on Feb 10 07 at 10:01 amThat’s a great idea! I’ve recently just been using a whiteboard but I’ll try that so I can move the items around and prioritize.
Thanks!
Suzie Cheel added these pithy words on Aug 14 07 at 10:21 pmWhat a great idea- I am thinking of using this system and a visual art diary, I find the computer systems too cumbersome and another to do that doesn’t seem to get done. Thnaks for the post over at emoms- you have a great blog
Jon added these pithy words on Aug 14 07 at 10:36 pmThanks Suzie, glad you like it. Let me know if you use or transform the sticky note system. I know it evolves into something different for everyone.
Suzie Cheel added these pithy words on Aug 14 07 at 10:59 pmI am about to head out the door and buy some new post pads- I like the visual of it
Grzegorz Borys added these pithy words on Apr 13 08 at 11:58 amI was suggested that all electronic to do lists tend to put many things on them without really thinking how long it would take. So for me as person your system hope will work.