You undoubtedly use them, but may never have thought about how: to-do lists. They're often lying around on brightly colored post-its, somewhere on your phone, or in the palm of your hand. That's why it's time for some to-do lists on behalf of better to-do lists, and we'll show you how Greenstory items can help you do just that.
To-do #1: Consider how you use your to-do list(s)
While your current system (or lack thereof) may seem to be working adequately, it's likely that you could make it more restful and/or effective if you took a moment to do so. Take ten minutes to list the types of to-do's you typically have. Is it primarily household tasks, work-related items, vague future and travel plans, or a mix of all of them?
To-do #2: Break up your to-do's
'Rule university' may be an obvious to-do for you - after all, you know what you mean by it - but it is not specific. This makes it harder to motivate you to do the various small tasks (an e-mail to the dean about course selection, registration with DUO) that are hidden under your general to-do. So try to formulate your to-do's specifically. Not only will this make it easier to motivate you - after all, an email is done in no time - it will also give you extra satisfaction: you can check off more, or, in the case of Greenbook, erase more. Who wouldn't be happy about that? Helpful for writing out and breaking up all your to-do's: Greenstory's classic A5, a long, classic to-do list, but on whiteboard material. Write down everything that comes to mind, no matter how small, and then organize it by theme or deadline (see below). All the to-do's broken up and time for coffee? Just erase the page again!
To-do #3: Think in timelines, themes, or projects
Now that you have a picture of your current to-do usage and have broken down tasks into smaller components, you can think about a timeline. Often to-do lists are a mixture of ''buy dog food'' (must be quick or people will die) and ''learn Spanish'' (can wait, no es cierto?). Break down your to-do's on a time scale, say weeks, months, and years. Learning Spanish takes years, but you can set yourself a goal to enroll in that beginner's course this week. Greenstory's To-do Priority Lists come in handy at this stage. They are to-do pages divided into three boxes, perfect for short, medium and long term.
Vague plans with no clear timeline? No problem. Have a braindump list where you can put all your concoctions. Later, the worked-out, practical plans can always be moved to your to-do list. Of course, if you find working with themes instead of time more pleasant, you can do that too. Greenstory's To-do overview-A5 has four to-do lists per page. Divide them into the themes ("college," "work," "sports," "other") or time periods ("this week," "September," "fall break," "Christmas") of your choice.
Do you deal with several, separate projects? Then it can be confusing to display tasks from different projects on the same page. Easy solution: the To-do Project A5, the ideal tool for project management. The convenient page design allows you to add deadlines to all tasks.Done? Check off and move on to the next project!
About Fleur
Fleur is a long-time member of GreenTeam. While writing this Fleur Story, she was busy working on her thesis at University College Maastricht, where she specialized in history and philosophy. She loves the smell of old books and chose her work at Greenstory to make sustainable impact.
