5 Reasons Your To-Do App Is Making You Less Productive

MUO

Giving up on your to-do lists? Your problem isn't your ambition or the task planning app you use. The problem is in how you are using your to-do list in general. Let me take a guess about how your Monday mornings start. You wake up, get ready and head to work. When you get to work and take a look at all of your projects, you figure out what needs to be done. Now you get out your trusty to-do list app and start making a monstrous list of tasks you'll carry around all week and swear to finish. Friday comes and you did the bare minimum...again. Your problem isn't your ambition or the task planning app you use. The problem is in how you are using your to-do list in general. Let's talk about some ways to make you more productive by identifying some of the pitfalls hidden in to-do lists.

You Start With The Wrong List

People either use one really big list and choose items from it with no real plan. Or they have lots of little lists with the same problem. Here is how I tame my tasks. I use to catch all information, including my tasks. Evernote is where I make a BIG list. The big list is absolutely everything I need to do. My main list is divided in two sections -- Home and Work. Both lists are pretty long and can be intimidating. My Home list has everything from take out the trash to cut wood to patch a drafty opening in the shed before it snows a lot. My work list is similar. Since I have a day job and I am a freelance writer, the Work list helps me manage my projects and deadlines. Because everything is in one place, it's easier to sort.

You Are Sorting Tasks Wrong

Part of what stops us from getting the things done we set out to do is the enormous list we task ourselves with completing. A long list is intimidating. Sure, it all needs to be done, but breaking it down and analyzing the task to see where it falls on the importance scale is really important. A long time ago I saw this 4 place matrix and it changed the way I chose my activities. This is a typical , also better known as an "Eisenhower Box". This is how I . I look at the large combined home and work list. I scan the tasks and shift them to a smaller home list or work list. From there I use the matrix pictured above to decide where the task falls on the importance scale. Sorting them this way will weed out all the items on the list which aren't moving you toward your goals. Don't spend a lot of time pondering every aspect of each task. Be ruthless like you are with jobs like (hopefully). You can always move the task to a different list later.

Your List Is Way Too Long To Complete In A Day

Once I have the tasks sorted into order of importance, I move them into a Today folder in . I use a totally separate to-do list app for my daily tasks so I am not overwhelmed by the longer list or get distracted in the sea of information in my Evernote library. You could just as easily use a new note in Evernote with your daily to-dos and check them off as you finish them. Like me, you can continue to use what you are accustomed to. By having just the tasks I need to do today visible, I am not as overwhelmed. I can set reminders, see any notes and concentrate on just the things I need to get done. As I check off the list, they disappear from sight and I gain momentum. At the end of the day you can go in and delete all the completed tasks in the morning and bring in another small list of tasks.

You re Using Too Many Apps

Less is more when it comes to you need to manually use to get organized. Todoist -- and many other to-do list apps-- have ways to link up to different services. Check out the other apps can link up with to add some automation or additional functionality. Alternatively, you can for managing your tasks.

You re Forcing Yourself To Be Productive

If the way you are trying to be productive is a chore and you hate to do it, you won't. Once you find a way you trust and is easy to use anywhere you are, your productivity will skyrocket. When something is hard to do, we procrastinate. When something is fun and or easy, we will fly right through it without hesitation.

Choose A Method And Stick With It

While there are too many articles out there on to-do apps and , it all comes down to what works for you. Once you find something that works for you, try not to keep changing these habits. Not sticking with something will make it harder for you to trust any one method and not fully understanding the app you chose to use. Your productivity is not coming from the app, it's coming from the method you are comfortable using. So in the end, pick an app, start to use it, learn it, and incorporate all the options it's capable of. If the app doesn't fit your method, find something that does. I think this is why . It can conform to just about any way you'd like to use it. What are the you make? Do you get more done with lists? What are your tips for taming your daily tasks? Image Credits: via Flickr, via Flickr,