Summary

John Teehan, a freelance writer and book designer, shares his productivity strategy of using a weekly to-do list complemented by daily post-it notes to prioritize tasks and maintain focus.

Abstract

John Teehan has developed a task management system that effectively balances his workload as a freelancer. He maintains a weekly to-do list in a paper planner to track appointments, family events, and work tasks, which has significantly improved his productivity. However, to address the issue of feeling overwhelmed by the volume of tasks, he introduced daily post-it notes to highlight the most critical tasks for the day. This method ensures that high-priority tasks are completed without being overshadowed by the multitude of other responsibilities. The post-it notes are placed on top of the weekly list, providing a clear daily focus and a sense of accomplishment as tasks are completed and crossed off. Teehan emphasizes that this simple hack can be beneficial for anyone, regardless of their profession, who needs to manage a substantial to-do list.

Opinions

Teehan values the flexibility of freelance work, including setting his own hours and work environment.
He acknowledges the importance of staying organized to maintain a steady workflow and satisfy clients.
Teehan believes that even a well-established system can be improved, as evidenced by his integration of daily post-it notes into his existing weekly planning routine.
He finds satisfaction in being able to visually track his progress and accomplishments throughout the day and week.
Teehan suggests that this daily prioritization technique is universally applicable and can lead to increased focus and productivity for anyone with a sizeable task list.

An Easy Hack For Your Task Lists That Will Change Everything

Whether you’re a freelancer, office worker, or artisan this will help you stay focused.

As a freelance writer and book designer, I’ve got it pretty sweet.

I make my own hours. I can work pretty much wherever I want to. I can play whatever music I want to. And I have plenty to keep me busy.

I won’t jinx things by suggesting I have too much to do. Being busy — or at least steady — keeps all those people I pay monthly bills to happy.

But there are times when there is a lot to keep track of, and it can get a little overwhelming, and it can threaten to throw me off track. When that happens, projects end up finishing late — and that’s not so good for business.

I’ve had a system in place for a while that does wonders in keeping me organized, and recently I’ve found a way to make that system even better. It’s something you may find helpful too.

The Long Lists

I’ve written before how I use paper planners and notebooks to manage my schedule and to-do lists. In short, my calendar contains things like appointments, family events, and reminders for things like bill payments and bookkeeping tasks.

My notebook features a weekly To-Do list. It fills up quickly on Monday when I sit down to assess ongoing projects, new projects, and the odd past-due project.

It’s a system that’s worked well for me since I instituted it over a year ago. I’m pretty much on top of everything, which in itself is a huge relief. My overall productivity has improved dramatically since starting this system.

But it wasn’t perfect.

Yeah, I know. What is? But just the sale, it needed one more tweak.

Enter the daily post-it note.

For privacy reasons, I can’t show you any filled-out pages but you see I have ample room to stay organized. Photo by author.

The Short List

As much as I enjoy crossing things off my weekly to-do list because it fills up so fast, the amount there can still be a little intimidating, and it can be difficult to pick which jobs to focus on.

I know which jobs I should be doing first, but the long weekly list has so many options for other things I could also be doing that sometimes an important job gets pushed off for a day or two.

Not good.

My solution? Post-it notes.

Last Christmas, my wife gave me as part of a stocking stuffer a package of custom-printed post-it notes. Along the left side is a picture of my kid. The rest is a good amount of white space with plenty of room to write down the top two or three Big Tasks that need attention that day and three or four smaller tasks I can use as either a warm-up or change-in-pace.

These smaller tasks need to be done as well, but they’re maybe less high priority, but at the same time, they can be accomplished without sacrificing the larger jobs.

I stick that post-it note on top of my weekly to-do list.

Now my day looks even more manageable. And by the end of the day, I’ve usually crossed everything off that list.

That’s a good feeling.

After that, I go back to my weekly list and cross off the post-it items from that. And as the week progresses, that notebook page starts looking more and more satisfying as well.

He’s a good kid. I’m lucky I get to spend so much time with him. And he doesn’t take up much room on a post-it note. Photo by author.

Little Hacks Help a Lot

It’s the little things that seem to make the biggest difference, eh?

I had a sound system going. It worked pretty well, but there were still occasional issues.

One minor fix — a 2.75 x 4-inch post-it — has helped me make sure I’m focusing on the right things at the right time.

And getting a hell of a lot more work done.

As a freelancer, this is a hugely helpful trick.

I think it could be applied to any sort of job that requires managing a sizeable to-do list. You could be working in an office or a woodshop; it’s still a good little hack.

Try it out and see what happens.

You may be surprised.

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About John Teehan

John lives in Rhode Island with his wife, son, and dog. He specializes in tech, health, business, parenting, pop culture, and gaming. Visit wordsbyjohn.net for more info and rates. Twitter: @WordsByJohn2