TO-DO LISTS:

MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES WITH TO-DO LISTS:

To-do lists. Most of us use them, but how effective are they really?

It seems as if I spend half of my homework time on planning what to do next. Whether I am using the notes app, writing it in my notebook during math class, or using a stick note in my room, I can’t stop myself from constructing to-do lists. It makes me feel productive that I am writing all this stuff down and being organized when in reality, I am simply wasting my time. Usually when I miss a “deadline” I made for myself, I push everything back and waste more time, especially with the example below.

Here is one I wrote for today:

monday:

chem 8-905

study thermo I

appt at 930

study thermo II

appt at 1030

study thermo III

lunch

tophat until 1

study more for chem recit.

calc 135-240

recit 250-355

writing 435-540

writing hwk

study for chem***

I chose to alternate regular and bold font to separate each thought—maybe even to make it seem like less work. Normally I use the format above to plan out my week, but lately I have tried using a technique one of my friends uses. This technique is creating a to-do list like a grocery list.

With this method, I feel that I will be more productive. With no deadlines like the other list, there is no set time that a certain job needs to be done. The only expectation is that everything gets done in that day, so that the rest of the week can go smoothly. The only issue with this method is the lack of discipline. Without any deadlines, there is a lot of pressure placed on myself to manage my time wisely enough to get everything done. Sometimes I even add times to this list to make sure I can actually finish all of these with my schedule for the day.