We’re all familiar with the never-ending To-Do list. We keep crossing things off of our list, but those pesky things seem to grow even longer! I often meet people who are frustrated with their To-Do lists. While these frustrations are valid, I continue to be a big fan for the following reasons:

1) Allow yourself to focus

A To-Do list allows us to free up our minds and fully focus on one thing. It’s much more difficult to review a report when we’re trying to remember to meet with Linda in finance and write a speech for the upcoming retreat.

2) Prioritize your work

Being able to quickly review and compare all of our tasks is a necessary component of prioritizing. I recommend spending 3-5 minutes each day identifying the most important things on your list. Identify both the urgent and non-urgent activities that you want to accomplish that day. Often, it is the important/non-urgent activities that lead to our success.

3) Follow through on your commitments

Our brains are generally not equipped to track a large number of tasks at one time. Many people profess that they can keep all of their action items in their heads. I believe that this approach can too easily lead to the 3am panic when we remember that we were supposed to send the client a replacement part.

Effectively managing a To-Do list is a key driver of workplace productivity. When we are passionate about our career and thinking ahead to the future, we are constantly identifying new tasks. A To-Do list is actually a reflection of our ability to accomplish many great things in the weeks to come. When you look at it that way, a To-Do list doesn’t seem so pesky after all!