How to make a mammoth to-do list less hairy

Spoiler: Using time containers as a motivator for conquering that list of things you need to get done.

Getting tasks down on paper into a to-do list can feel deeply satisfying, like a cathartic sigh of relief. But if I’m totally truthful, the relief is only fleeting.

The sad reality is that my list often represents a looming peak that must be conquered in order for me to feel complete satisfaction.

Cue anxious thoughts of “how the heck am I to smash this mammoth list? It’s way too big for little old me! I may as well give up now and put the kettle on instead.”

But what if there was a way to make it more manageable? A hack for eating that great, hairy mammoth not just one cringeworthy bite at a time, but gladly with gratifying gulps?

Here’s how I create a hunger to eat through my to-do list

I use Parkinson Law to level-up the attainability of my to-do list. If you’ve not heard of Parkinson’s Law, it’s an idea first devised by Cyril Northcote Parkinson in a 1955 article in The Economist. Parkinson had made an observation of the natural tendency for officials to make more work for each other. However, in more recent times, Parkinson’s Law is the term used to describe how work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion

¹

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For me, Parkinson Law is one of the keys to feeling more motivated to conquer my to-do list, because by making tasks time-bound I increase my chances of getting stuff done. I pick the size of the cup I’ll pour my productivity into, then I do my best not to let it spill-over. I’ve found that when I’m not time-bound with my tasks I fall into a trap that turns my to-do list toxic, which I wrote about recently here.

Example of how a “super mum” might structure her work-from-home day (p.s my day looks nothing like this perfect one which has been simplify for illustrative purposes 😂)

Working within time containers

I personally like to use a daily schedule, such as the this undated daily insert, to quickly map out my tasks to a time slot. Instead of being faced with an overwhelming list of stuff I can be realistic with the time I have each day to achieve tasks. It also means I’m ruthless in terms of my priorities - if a task isn’t important and/or urgent then I question whether I really need to stress myself out with it today?

Time pressure and the performance vs productivity balance.

Time pressure is great for encouraging you to complete tasks efficiently (productivity) but it can come at the expense of quality (performance), but that's not to say that more time equals better quality work. A study

²

found that giving people more time isn't always better for performance because there will eventually be diminishing returns due to mental or physical fatigue, and the ability to maintain focus - so it’s important to find where the sweet spot is in terms of time allocation for tasks.

Using ‘Buffer Time’ instead of finding the sweet-spot

I’ve not yet found a magic formula for finding the time pressure sweet-spot, so it’s very much a trial and error experiment. But one thing that has helped me is adding buffer time after a big task. If I over run the time slot for the task it won’t have a catastrophic affect on what follows. Conversely, if I get the task done within the time allotted I either start the next task early or take a moment to reset my focus before moving on.

Time containers are just one of the task management tools I use to feel more productive. I find on the days where I simply wing-it through my to-dos I end up feeling more disorganised than on top of things. Sticking to a daily schedule truly helps me in getting things done so I have that feeling of total satisfaction at the end of the day. If you’re not yet using time containers for your to-do list I highly recommend you try it.

Until next time Planner Friend
Chloe x

1. Parkinson's Law as a goal-setting phenomenon. Judith F. Bryan, Edwin A. Locke. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, Volume 2, Issue 3, August 1967:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0030507367900219

2. Time Pressure, Performance, and Productivity. Don A. Moore, Elizabeth R. Tenney. Looking Back, Moving Forward: A Review of Group and Team-Based Research. Publication date: 19 September 2012.
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/S1534-0856(2012)0000015015/full/html