Five Steps to Building a Better To Do List
One thing that’s true for college students is that they’re juggling a lot: they’re taking 3-5 classes (or more!) at once, leading student organizations, taking care of their own well-being, working part- or full-time jobs, and/or supporting families. And for many younger students, they’ve just made a stark jump from having most of their day fully planned out to having total control over how they manage their time.
So where do most start? With building a daily to do list.
The problem with most to do lists? They’re full of too many tasks given the amount of time students actually have to work through them. Or, they lack prioritization and so students naturally gravitate towards lower lift tasks, leaving more demanding or time intensive tasks for the last minute (if they get done at all).
One skill that will help you get more of what’s most important done? Learning how to build a better to do list.
Here’s a five step system that will immediately uplevel your to do list game:
Task It:
Start by setting a timer for five minutes and writing down everything you can think of that you need to do. Don’t worry about missing things at this point – the most important tasks will end up in this brain dump, and you can always add to your list later.
Prioritize:
Rank all tasks on your list from 1-total number (for example, if there are 20 tasks on your list, you’ll rank them from 1-20), with 1 being the most important.
Time Box:
Once you have your list, estimate how much time you think it will take to complete each task if you were focused on only that one task. You’ll write your time estimate next to each task.
Commit:
See how much time you have to complete work that day and commit to which tasks you’ll be able to complete, starting with your #1 highest priority task.
Take this list for example:
- 1- Study for CS Midterm (1.5 hrs)
- 2- Send out chapter emails (30 min)
- 3- Workout (60 min)
- 4- Complete discussion board for History (30 min)
If I had only two hours for the day, I would commit to completing my two highest priority tasks and then tackling my third task if I had time.
Get it Done:
When you have time to work, work on your highest priority task (and only your highest priority task) until completed. Then, move on to your next highest priority task.
Prioritizing your list does a few things to help you get more done:
- It reduces overwhelm by starting your day knowing what you’ll tackle
- It reduces guilt associated with not getting it all done by ensuring you do your highest priority tasks first
- It helps you avoid spending too much time on any one task by creating constraints around how long a task should take you
- It reduces multitasking by focusing on one task at a time, increasing productivity and lessening cognitive load
The bottom line? A good to do list isn’t about getting everything done—it’s about getting the right things done. By building prioritization and time awareness into your planning process, you’ll spend less time feeling overwhelmed and more time making real progress on what matters most. Your future self will thank you for focusing on impact over completion.