Inseparable: your calendar and your to-do list

Hi!

Your to-do list and your calendar. Both are indispensable, but how do you make them work together? How can you get the most out of these familiar tools?

It starts with understanding that your calendar and your to-do list do different things. Your calendar helps you make solid decisions about what you put time into. Your to-do list helps you make sure nothing slips through the cracks. With just a calendar, I’d lose track of all those loose ends. With just a to-do list, I would never manage to get to all the important but not urgent things on it.

My calendar is always my starting point. If it’s on my calendar, I do it. Once I’ve completed my scheduled tasks, or if I have a gap in my schedule, then I pick up my to-do list. My to-do list ensures I don’t fill up every free moment with checking email. I try to keep 10-15% of my workday free in my calendar, so there’s usually enough time to make some headway with those to-dos.

Here are some more thoughts about that to-do list and how it fits into my day:

• First off, the things on my to-do list aren’t tied to a particular deadline. If something has to happen at a certain time or before a given date, I reserve time in my calendar to take care of it.
  And that deadline may well be a self-imposed deadline: That’s how I give a sense of urgency to a project that’s not pressing, but which is important to me. It’s the only way to make sure I’ll get to it.

• What I do for items on my to-do list is assign a date. I’ve experimented with priority labels, or simply using one big list of to-dos, but for me a provisional date works best. It allows you to pull up a brief list for the day, instead of scrolling through everything you ever want to do. See it as a set of nice-to-haves for the day, where it’s no problem if you end up moving them to a later date.

• People tell me they sometimes don’t get to their to-do list at all once they start using their calendar more. But that’s not a problem, because if it really has to happen, it’s on your calendar.

• I reserve time in my day for email. But not for to-dos. Scheduling a time block for odd jobs is often an excuse to take on tasks that aren’t all that important. You avoid making the tough choices about how you spend your time, and you still have to decide what to prioritize when you get to your odd jobs hour.

• My Friday recap is the time to look over my to-do list, move key items to the calendar for the coming week, and assign to-dos a new “pencilled-in” date. I say move, here, but usually I just leave it on my list. Double entries aren’t an issue because I know I’ll clean that up on Friday.

As you can see, it’s the combined power of these two tools that I really need. A clear set of practices helps me know what to put on my calendar and what to park on my to-do list. I’m always interested in hearing about how other people work. So if you have something to add, let me know!

Have a good week,
Rick