An effective to-do list
- Is simple to use,
- unloseable,
- And doesn’t require that you make many significant changes to your day-to-day life.
The last requirement is the hardest to find.
It took me a very long time to find a to-do list that actually worked for me. Over the last few years I’ve tried written lists (and lost them all), stuck sticky-notes to my laptop, and installed and deleted many smartphone apps designed to help me tick off all my personal and professional to-dos.
The solution in the end was the simplest of them all. I started using my email inbox as my to-do list.
When an email comes in you can do two things with it — delete it or keep it.
If the email requires you perform an action, then keep it until you’ve perform that action. If there is no action, then delete the email. Simple.
If there is something you should remember to do (something you want to add to your to-do list), then send yourself an email reminder.
This way your inbox is only made of actionable emails. If you have no emails in your inbox then you have nothing left to do.
Remember to never get rid of your deleted items