Summary

The website content provides strategies for students to effectively utilize to-do lists to enhance productivity and manage tasks and ideas.

Abstract

The article titled "To-do Lists: 3 Powerful Ways to Make The Most of Your To-do List (as A Student)" emphasizes the importance of to-do lists as a tool for storing intended actions and ensuring they are easy to access, reliable, and tailored to the individual's needs. It outlines three key methods to optimize the use of to-do lists: distinguishing between relevant and irrelevant tasks to prioritize effectively, using the list to capture fleeting ideas and thoughts, and planning the day around the most important tasks, including time for reflection and creativity. The author suggests that by implementing these strategies, students can make significant progress in their personal and academic goals.

Opinions

The author believes that a to-do list should be straightforward and not overly complicated, favoring functionality over aesthetics.
It is the author's opinion that irrelevant tasks, while not necessarily useless, should be deprioritized in favor of tasks that contribute more significantly to one's goals.
The author values the capture of spontaneous ideas and thoughts, considering it crucial for the creative process and suggesting that a to-do list is an appropriate place to store them.
The article conveys the opinion that planning one's day with a focus on a few "must-do" tasks, along with less critical tasks, leads to a more structured and productive day.
The author encourages readers to support the article by engaging with it through clapping, following for more content, and sharing, indicating a belief in the article's value and the desire for community feedback and dissemination.

To-do Lists: 3 Powerful Ways to Make The Most of Your To-do List (as A Student)

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

Every successful person has a place to store the actions they intend to perform.

And that is what a to-do list is to you: a place to store intended actions so you don’t forget.

A to-do list does not have to be all prettied up. Anything works, as long as it is:

easy to access
reliable
and works for you.

You could use a jotter or apps like Todoist or Google Tasks. The important thing is that your to-do list should be easy to access and not super-complicated.

The goal is to get a task down, not get fancy.

Here are three ways to make the most of your to-do lists:

1. Separate between relevant and irrelevant tasks.

We spend most of our time on tasks that contribute little or nothing to our goals.

These types of tasks are called irrelevant tasks.

They are not useless. They don’t just do much to move our lives forward. And this is where a to-do list steps in.

Having a to-do list can help you decide which types of tasks to prioritize because you get to see your tasks at a glance and decide which ones are relevant. Jumbling up tasks in your head won’t be as effective.

Group your tasks into relevant (R) or irrelevant (I). Then focus on the relevant tasks first and see how much progress you make.

2. Capture ideas and thoughts

Who says a to-do list can only be for tasks?

You can also capture ideas or thoughts.

I do this all the time. A thought pops into my head, I whip out my phone and save it in Todoist. (Todoist has a little plus button widget that allows me to tap and store a thought or task in seconds).

As long as the thought is stored safely, I will get to it eventually.

The worst thing that can happen to a creative person is to loose those little “aha” moments. Those moments add a glimmer to your creative process.

This is why your to-do lists must be easy to access.

Keep a notebook and pen around, so when those million-dollar thoughts pop up, you scribble them into your to-do list.

3. Use your to-do list to plan your day

Once you know what tasks are relevant to you, plan your day around them.

Select two to three "must-do" tasks, then—depending on your schedule—a few “not as important” tasks to work on. Add a time constraint on each task, and voila—your day is planned.

You can also schedule time to research and think about those captured thoughts.

It’s all up to you.

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