Here is how to make a to do list that works: keep two lists. One captures everything. The other holds only a few tasks for today, each written as a specific next step that starts with a verb and has a rough time estimate. A short, specific list is easier to act on than a long, vague one.
A to do list usually fails for a few predictable reasons:
It's too long. Thirty items with no order make every choice feel equal.
Items are projects, not actions. "Taxes" is not something you can do in one sitting.
Someday ideas sit next to today's jobs. "Learn Spanish" and "Call the dentist" compete for the same space.
There are no time estimates. Without them, it's easy to plan nine hours of work for a three-hour afternoon.
There's a mental cost too. Unfinished goals tend to stay on your mind. In a set of studies published in 2011, unfinished goals caused intrusive thoughts during an unrelated reading task and worse performance on an unrelated word puzzle. When people made specific plans for those goals, the effects went away. So a good list isn't just a reminder. It's a plan that lets your mind put things down.
Keep a capture list and a today list. Cleveland Clinic suggests writing down everything you're thinking about and need to do, then editing that list to what you can realistically get done right now. That is the whole system in one sentence.
Write next actions, not projects. David Allen, who created Getting Things Done, talks about working out "the very next action" on each thing you're involved in. "Taxes" becomes "Find last year's tax return in my email."
Start every item with a verb. Call, email, draft, buy, book, print. A verb tells you exactly what to do when you glance at the list.
Add a time estimate. Put a rough number of minutes next to each item, then check the total against the time you actually have.
Estimate in pieces. In experiments published in 2008, people gave a task less time when they estimated it as a whole than when they added up time for its separate parts. Estimating step by step may give you a more realistic total.
Keep today short. Pick the must-dos you can realistically finish. Anything else goes back to the capture list.
Do tiny tasks instead of listing them. Allen's two-minute rule says that if an action takes less than two minutes, you do it now.
Reset daily. At the end of the day, cross off what's done, move unfinished items to tomorrow or back to the capture list, and delete anything that no longer matters.
The two lists do different jobs, so treat them differently.
Capture list: everything, as soon as you think of it. No order, no estimates, no judgment. Its job is to get things out of your head.
Today list: made once a day from the capture list. Short, specific, ordered and estimated. Its job is to tell you what to do next.
Paper or app matters less than having one trusted place for each list, so you aren't hunting through sticky notes, texts and emails. If your head feels too full to start, a brain dump is a good way to build your first capture list.
This is an example only, to show the format.
Capture list (example):
Taxes
Dentist
Birthday gift for Sam
Bathroom leak
Fix bike tire
Learn Spanish
Today list (example):
Email the landlord about the bathroom leak, with a photo (10 min)
Find last year's tax return and save it in a taxes folder (15 min)
Call the dentist to book a cleaning (5 min)
Order a gift card for Sam's birthday (10 min)
Total: about 40 minutes. "Fix bike tire" and "Learn Spanish" stay on the capture list for another day. Notice that every item starts with a verb and could be done in one sitting.
A small 2018 sleep lab study tested this. Young adults spent five minutes before bed either writing a to do list for the next few days or writing about tasks they had already completed. Those who wrote a to do list fell asleep significantly faster, and the more specific their list, the faster they fell asleep. It was one study of 57 people aged 18 to 30, so treat it as a promising idea rather than proof. Still, five minutes with a pen is an easy thing to try.
There is no magic number. Use your time estimates to check: if the total is more than the time you have, cut items until it fits. Everything else stays on your capture list.
If a task takes less than two minutes, David Allen's rule is to just do it. Looking at it again later would take longer than the task itself.
Common reasons are a list that is too long, items that are too vague, and time estimates that are missing or too low. Shorten it, rewrite items as next actions, and add up the minutes before you start.
Either works. Writing it the night before means you can start right away in the morning, and one small study found that a specific bedtime to do list helped people fall asleep faster.
If you'd like this two-list setup on your iPhone, Now: ADHD Task Starter has a Brain Dump box that takes typed or dictated text and splits it into tasks, and a daily plan of up to three tasks with a "parking lot" for everything else. Its Time Mirror compares your estimates with recorded time. There is no account, and your tasks are stored on your iPhone.
Episode #79: David Allen with a Two-minute Tip, The Two-minute Rule (Getting Things Done)
What Is ADHD Paralysis? How To Overcome It (Cleveland Clinic)