Yes, I’m finding it easier to get things done with a to-do list. Mind you, having tried to use two or three on the iPhone, I’ve realised it needs to be desktop or paper-based. Unless I can find a good one that effectively stretches across iPhone and desktop in a seamless, sync’d-in fashion.

Having a to-do list isn’t the end of it. I need to be conscientious about keeping it up-to-date and reasonable for a start. If I have more than about half-a-dozen things on there, for example, I know that I’m heading for a loser. Half-a-dozen means I can be working on a couple of things now, a couple of things then, and a final two soon. Planning more than that means planning too far ahead – and the moment you do that you lose some of the impetus. A sort of claustrophobia sets in and I feel crowded out by the enormity of whatever I’m expecting from myself.

So, I have a very simple tool – TaskMate – that represents little more than an electronic tick-list. I could do it on paper – but then I’d lose it. If I have the tasks set down on my desktop and they’re there every start-up… I’m keenly aware of them.

And, I don’t like to refill the list until I’ve got all half-a-dozen tasks done, otherwise the last one or two get pushed out. If priority demands it, I’m introduce something new – but that’s only one thing and only because if I don’t do it now something dire will happening (like sorting out the insurance for my car the weekend before last).

Right now, I have one, and only one, priority at work – though this has sub-tasks to complete… but, there I can have a paper-based to-do that I can’t lose. For the time being, I remain retro at work and keep the to-do on the agenda and key in my mind by revisiting it daily and re-scribing it weekly. Re-writing the whole thing, I ensure new priorities get the attention they need and where nothing stands out I can make judgment calls for the week ahead based on who might be available when to have catch-up meetings with.

NOTE: I have now discovered tadalist, which I’m going to give a go. It’ll all via browser, but the site has a very friendly iPhone face that looks promising. I might actually get this bitch of a to do list online…

I appreciate the concept of time management; but, I have difficulty keeping to any plans I make for myself. When I sat down at my desk this last Monday, I wrote out a ‘To Do’ list with about twenty different activities on it. I think I managed to do about half a dozen by the end of the week, because I either found myself engaged in other activities or trapped in meetings. I have no big issue with meetings, but they can have a sponge-like effect on free time. Before you know it, a whole day has evaporated and you feel like you have got nothing done at all.

Now, time management isn’t just concerned with work life, either. At home I also find myself with a dozen different small projects, and they get disrupted by the need to engage in ordinary household activities like washing up, ironing, preparing meals, doing food shopping, and sleeping. Amongst my list of things to do at home, I have two writing projects, some research for a third writing project, two websites for charities I support, a Tyranid army I need to start painting for my eldest, a pile of reference books I need to check out to determine their value in completing my writing projects, and a bunch of other stuff I’m likely to forget unless I create a ‘To Do’ list for home, too.

So, does anyone have any advice on ways to better organise work and home time? I know I could do with some help…

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