To Do List - Blog Posts

How to Handle Having TOO MUCH To Do

So let’s say you’re in the same boat I am (this is a running theme, have you noticed?) and you’ve just got, like, SO MUCH STUFF that HAS to get done YESTERDAY or you will DIE (or fail/get fired/mope). Everything needs to be done yesterday, you’re sick, and for whatever reason you are focusing on the least important stuff first. What to do!

Take a deep breath, because this is a boot camp in prioritization.

Make a 3 by 4 grid. Make it pretty big. The line above your top row goes like this: Due YESTERDAY - due TOMORROW - due LATER. Along the side, write: Takes 5 min - Takes 30 min - Takes hours - Takes DAYS.

Divide ALL your tasks into one of these squares, based on how much work you still have to do. A thank you note for a present you received two weeks ago? That takes 5 minutes and was due YESTERDAY. Put it in that square. A five page paper that’s due tomorrow? That takes an hour/hours, place it appropriately. Tomorrow’s speech you just need to rehearse? Half an hour, due TOMORROW. Do the same for ALL of your tasks

Your priority goes like this:

5 minutes due YESTERDAY

5 minutes due TOMORROW

Half-hour due YESTERDAY

Half-hour due TOMORROW

Hours due YESTERDAY

Hours due TOMORROW

5 minutes due LATER

Half-hour due LATER

Hours due LATER

DAYS due YESTERDAY

DAYS due TOMORROW

DAYS due LATER

At this point you just go down the list in each section. If something feels especially urgent, for whatever reason - a certain professor is hounding you, you’re especially worried about that speech, whatever - you can bump that up to the top of the entire list. However, going through the list like this is what I find most efficient.

Some people do like to save the 5 minute tasks for kind of a break between longer-running tasks. If that’s what you want to try, go for it! You’re the one studying here.

So that’s how to prioritize. Now, how to actually do shit? That’s where the 20/10 method comes in. It’s simple: do stuff like a stuff-doing FIEND for 20 minutes, then take a ten minute break and do whatever you want. Repeat ad infinitum. It’s how I’ve gotten through my to do list, concussed and everything.

You’ve got this. Get a drink and start - we can do our stuff together!

It’s still a work in progress but here’s a cool simple list I found to help clean your room that I’ve been using:

Hope this helps anyone!

🎵If you’re struggling to clean your room clap your hands 🎵

Ｔｏ－ｄｏ Ｌｉｓｔ

𝑅𝑒𝓆𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓉𝑒𝒹 

JJBA Part 5 Hero & Villain Matchup

Shoji, Tokoyami, and Iida w a Gymnast/Dancer s/o (Scenario)

ℝ𝕖𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕟! 

things i’ll do once i can FINALLY drive:

just leave to the library for some quiet time

just go to stores or a mall and skim through them on my own time

probably run someone over

actually control the music

just vibe in graveyards looking for cool names to write down

go to a park on my own and just immediately walk off the path and get lost

put stickers all throughout town

maybe get a part time job?

be able to get things like piercings n shit that i otherwise would not be able to get in a timely manner

probably carry even more safety shit

fuck up learning the guitar OUTSIDE instead of doing that indoors

get a parking fine because how the fuck do people even parallel park like it doesn’t even look physically possible

get the food i’m craving without having to do a charisma check at my family

just go to a pharmacy and walk around cus i never get enough time to just look at the things

maybe go to a con or other cool shit goin on

explore abandoned shit on my own that i probably shouldn’t be exploring

etc etc you get the gist I cannot wait