Sarahritchie17 When I first moved to Pensacola, I was required to do a 2-week quarantine before I reported to flight school. This meant 14 full days of staying home with no work to do—something most people dream of.
I knew I didn’t want to waste it, so my mind went into brainstorm mode in the weeks leading up to the move. I purposefully didn’t do certain things in December (like creating my vision board for the new year) because I wanted to save them so I wouldn’t run out of things to do in quarantine.
By the start of quarantine, my list had grown to about 25 items. I wanted to get settled in, create blog content, finalize my move paperwork, complete my check-in paperwork, workout every day, clean up my email inboxes, call friends, make a Goodwill pile, set up new furniture, set up my office space, hang frames up, craft my vision board, complete the damage survey, journal, make a menu board, learn to bake bagels, make homemade pasta, and more.
On top of all these things, I tried not to unpack all the boxes the first weekend, because I still worried I wouldn’t have enough to keep me busy for 14 days. But there was a fine line between unpacking enough to make the space actually live-able for the next two weeks and unpacking it all. Things like oven mits and napkins and pillows had to be found. So there weren’t many boxes left by the time quarantine started.
Within the first few days of quarantine, I was already overwhelmed. Where do you even start when your to-do list is 25-items long? Here’s what worked for me and is a strategy I’ll probably continue to use to manage my to-do list for non-quarantine times too.
Step 1: Find something to write on.
Start with a small whiteboard or sheet of paper you can post somewhere you see everyday. Here’s a template if you want to just print this one!
Step 2: Set priorities.
Out of all the things you know you need or want to get done in the foreseeable future, what stands out as a priority? What absolutely needs to happen to move the needle to where you want to be next week / month / year? Pick two or three things at most for this category. These may or may not be actual tasks. They can be overarching things that multiple tasks fit under or big goals that you want to keep an eye on and don’t want to let distraction tasks get in the way of.
Step 3: Sort out recurring tasks.
For me, this list included working out, reading, journaling, checking emails, and calling people. These are tasks that even if you get them done, stay on your list or reappear week after week. They can also be bigger projects that each day you’ll make a little progress on, like learning a language or things that take daily practice.
Step 4: Write out the rest.
What remains should be the things that you only have to do once to check them off your list. They can be accomplished within a day.
Step 5: Pick 1-2 things each day.
At then end of each day, do a review of your list. Remind yourself of your priorities, cross off or erase the things you accomplished for the day. Then pick a few recurring tasks and 1-2 of the remaining “to-do” tasks. I like to write these in my planner. That way in the morning, I can just look at the couple things I want to accomplish that day instead of getting overwhelmed by the full list.
Why it works
This method of organizing my to-do list worked for me because:
- It kept me focused on the priorities. When I read my priority list each day before scheduling the rest of my tasks, it helped me stay focused on the tasks that mattered the most or made the biggest difference and work on those things first.
- Writing it all down allowed me to focus all my attention on one task at a time. By taking away bite sized portions of my to-do list, I was able to be more intentional and specific with each day.
- There’s just something about physically erasing or crossing-off tasks. I find that I get a lot of momentum from having the visual of getting things done.
Whether you have all the things to do and none of the time, or all of the things to do and all of the time too, I think this strategy is a great way to get things organized and make them manageable.
Let me know if this works for you and if you’d like to see more posts like this in the future.
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Cheers!
Sarah
