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TIME MANAGEMENT
"Can't check that off yet, my friend." (Source)
Have you ever had the brief, random insight about something—maybe in the shower, or while driving, or while slurping up milkshakes—that was so ingenious you were stupefied by your own magnificence? I love when that happens. I don't so much love when I forget my brilliant insight because I forgot to write it down, though. It's the worst, right up there with slamming the door shut and remembering that my keys are still inside. And that I forgot pants.
Do you remember that time I said "Write it down"? You don't? Maybe you didn't write it down. "Writing it down" is a fantastic piece of life advice. Packing lists, morning reminders, phone numbers to the dentist—all are important. High school is brutal, and it puts even the toughest of brains through the ringer. We may feel bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Monday morning, but by afternoon, we can barely tie our shoelaces, let alone remember the four things we needed to do after school. This is where your To Do list comes in. This thing = total lifesaver.
READING: TO DO, OR NOT TO DO
Keeping track of about 845 different things you need to do in a day is a pain. Being organized and maintaining a calendar is a huge help, but at some point, we just need a To Do list. I've got some options of To Do lists for you below, but first, a few pointers on how to make the most of the To Do list without becoming overwhelmed:
Begin each To Do list with "Make a To Do list."
Begin each To Do list with "Make a To Do list."
As soon as the list is completed, you can mark something off as done. Oh, what a glorious feeling of achievement it is, truly.
Assign priorities. Always.
Assign priorities. Always.
"Study for Physics Midterm" should probably take priority over "Buy New Air Freshener for Car." I usually like to put the bigger priorities in red on my To Do lists and the smaller things in black. That way, I have a clear visualization of what requires immediate attention. It's sort of like a "Red Alert!" for the important stuff.
Have rewards.
Have rewards.
Kind of like the motivation I mentioned earlier, adding rewards to the To Do List prevents things from getting too daunting. If five paragraphs of essay-writing receives a dance-break reward, then put "dance break" on the list. This way, you get to see something checked off the list, but you also know that marking off "dance break" means that you've written five paragraphs (even if "Finish Essay" is still lingering).
Keep it realistic.
Keep it realistic.
Make sure the To Do List helps instead of hurts. Too-long To Do lists with more items than is humanly possible to accomplish in a week, let alone a day, are overwhelming and sad-ifying. If the list is so long that you're paralyzed by how much there is to do, break it in half and hide the second half away somewhere. There is no law against creating shorter To Do lists if that seems more psychologically manageable. Maybe it's a mind fake out, but it gets the job done.
Speaking of making To Do lists helpful to the max, now we can return to the various options for creating and maintaining the list for yourself:
Option 1: Google Calendar to the Max
Option 1: Google Calendar to the Max
If you love your Google calendar, go whole hog on it. Turn each day into a To Do list by creating a box for every item you need/want to accomplish. My favorite calendar hack is this: never delete a box. We can move it to a different day if it fits, or we can edit the task to put an "X" in front of it once it's done, but we can't delete it. As long as the box fits somewhere else or is X'd off, it's all good. Delete it? Nope. That means forgetting, and a young traveler, like an elephant, never forgets. FYI, this method works best if you are able to carry your Google calendar with you on a mobile device for on-the-go edits.
Option 2: Post-Its
Option 2: Post-Its
Good old fashioned Post-Its. These are a classic for a reason, and the feeling of scratching an item off is super gratifying. Possible downside: can be lost easily.
Option 3: To Do List apps
Option 3: To Do List apps
Apps are all the rage these days, and if they're more your style, have it with one of these 50+ Online To Do List Managers. Even if tech isn't really your thing, read through the article to get a better idea of the possibilities. P.S., there's one that makes accomplishing tasks into a game. Like with points and lives and everything. Yes, this is real. It's a crazy, topsy-turvy world we live in.
It's totally up to you how you use your To Do list, but the important part is that it needs to be useful. To see what I mean, read Lifehacker's article "Back to Basics: How to Simplify Your To Do List and Make It Useful Again."
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