If you listened to yesterday’s podcast, you probably realized we are very nerdy (like you didn’t know that already). How many people do you know that get so excited over making lists? I know a few, but then, I also know a lot of people who give me some side-eye when I talk about it. So yeah, I agree, it’s not for everyone, but then, neither is budgeting, cleaning house, or a whole lot of other things that are “good for us”. And yes, I really do think making lists is good for us. It’s good for the mind, it’s good for the soul. We can use lists to help us make decisions (pros vs. cons), brainstorm ideas, clear our mind (brain dump), and even remind us to be grateful.
The other day, I was reminded of how helpful lists are when I started my weekly planning routine. If you watched our “Plan with Us” live stream back in May, you may recall that I mentioned using a Brain Dump worksheet and an Eisenhower Matrix to help me remember and prioritize all the tasks I have to keep up with for my home, family, and work life. Those two tools work very well, but I often felt like things were still falling through the cracks. For instance, if you look at the Eisenhower Matrix, you’ll see that there are only nine lines in each of the four quadrants. I look at that and think it might be enough lines for all the things I have to do today, but it certainly won’t be enough space to list out everything that needs to be done for the whole week, much less the month or long-term goals. I have similar problems making lists and laying out goals in my planners and using the PowerSheets® Tending Lists. So what’s a goal-setting, planner girl to do?
Create a spreadsheet, of course!
After fussing about with my growing list of tasks that I had jotted down here, there and everywhere, I decided to compile all of my to-do lists and tasks into one comprehensive list that I could refer to every week while I’m laying out my planner. The list includes everything from daily work routines to step-by-step actions for each of my major goals for the year, along with several long-term pipe dreams. For each task, I have estimated the amount of time it would take to complete, the frequency if it is a repeating task, the date I would like to complete it (which updates every time I open the file for those daily tasks), and a rating system based on the Eisenhower Matrix. Thus, when I sort the list by date and rank, I wind up with the most urgent and important items at the top, ranked in order by urgency and importance. No more do I have to spend half my Sunday figuring out which tasks need to be done in what order throughout the week because the spreadsheet decides all that for me! Of course, I can choose to reorder the list in any way I choose, changing the ranking of items I feel are more important at the time. And if a new task or project comes up, I just add it to the list, assign the appropriate ranking levels, and sort…voila!
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| This is a peak at my very long list I created in Excel. |
I know this sort of nerdy spreadsheet automation is not for everyone, and it did take a little bit of time to set up, but I was so excited to discover how much time this little spreadsheet shaved off my planning time, and how accurately it helped me prioritize my tasks and allocate my time. I was also shocked at how many things I had on that list and realized it was no wonder that I am so overworked and overwhelmed at times. Having it all laid out on paper (because, of course, I printed it out) helped me look realistically at all the things I had committed myself to and to see that there’s no way I could do them all…or at least not right now. But having the list is also a reminder of the things I want to do…the things I am working towards and all that I want to accomplish. In creating this list and working from it diligently, I’m hoping to tick more tasks off of it than I add, and if I keep whittling it down, eventually I can get it to a manageable and reasonable size.
Oh, who am I kidding…we all know I’m already thinking of more things I want to add to it!
*There are several great spreadsheet applications available to make a list of your own. I made mine in Microsoft Excel, but you could also use Apple’s Numbers, or even Google Sheets, which is a cloud-based spreadsheet application that you can use from just about any device – and the bonus is, it’s free!
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