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May 21, 2025

How I organize my To Do list for the day – Projects, Work, Life and Other

I have been experimenting with trying to keep my life under control without forgetting what is actually important to accomplish in the moment.

My problem is likely yours as well which is to say…. the minute I pick up my phone to check my To Do list or to do a task, I get easily suckered into answering emails, seeing something else to be done on the list (“Ooo! I can just do it in 5 minutes!”) and then sliding into the deep spiral of social media.

Or tasks that have nothing to do with what I need to get done.

So…

What I have on the go at the moment:

  • Two projects at once to manage at my actual job which has its own set of deliverables
  • Small business admin tasks because as I own my own business, there are taxes, etc
  • Personal admin tasks (e.g. pick up drycleaning, renew passport, pay utility bill…)
  • Household tasks (e.g. vacuum the floor, wipe down the kitchen…)
  • Future planning tasks (e.g. booking flights for a vacation…)
  • Family tasks (e.g. Little Bun needs markers for a project, or a white t-shirt…)
  • Personal self-care tasks (e.g. Did I remember to take my medication?..)

This is pretty typical of most people, I would say, and it is easy to just lose track of life.

I have tried the following:

  • Removing my phone from sight – Oops then I cannot see my To Do list
  • Telling myself NOT to go on emails / social media / to focus – Doesn’t work, I am quite impulsive and rebellious
  • Jotting down notes on the side of what needs to be done – Doesn’t work, I lose the paper or forget about it until later
  • Making a To Do list and trying to tackle it all (it just keeps growing however..)
  • Trying out various planners: daily, weekly, monthly…
  • Google Calendar so it syncs between my phone and so on – but I really hate doing this because I have a work calendar that I don’t want to mix into my personal calendar, AND I really hate things on the Cloud.

So far, this is what has worked:

(Who knows if I will improve or change in the future? I probably will.)

  1. Using an analog Daily To Do list
  2. Having two separate Priority Pads for each of my projects
  3. Brain dumping all the To Dos onto my To Do app on my phone
  4. *Using separate weekly or monthly planners for the big picture at-a-glance moments for life and work
  5. *Using Google Calendar as a reminder for rare timed / planned out in advance items (e.g. Pay municipal bill!)
  6. Using my phone to braindump screenshots of emails to reply to, images or places to distill into my task list
  7. Snooze emails
  8. Split tasks into mini tasks

*On occasion, rare / as needed

It sounds like a lot, but here is how it breaks down in terms of usage. I will explain what I did before, why, what I changed, and how it works for me now.

1. Using an analog Daily To Do list

By far, the newest addition to my little world of organizing my life, and it has improved my focus immensely.

What I did before:

Before, I was going into my Things To Do app and typing in all the things I had to get done.

Like brain dumping and simultaneously trying to arrange them in a logical fashion as well which spelled disaster once life picked up.

I would manually move the tasks up and down on the list depending on priority, and what had to get done TODAY. I would use a “———-” as a task, to be a line separator between “TODAY To Do” and “Future To Do, or to create groups of tasks.

It looked like this:

It wasn’t TOO bad when I didn’t have more than 3-4 things to do at any given time, but it started to become a bit of a travail, as you can imagine.. because I would switch items up and down, and then they would get lost down in the shuffle, and I would have to think – what is the REAL “TO DO” today?

And what is for later on?

And the lines just took up space and made the text harder to see later on.

Other times, I would just simply forget to look at the To Do list, and since it wasn’t in my face, it didn’t get done, or I missed deadlines.

Enter: The Analog (read: paper) Daily To Do List

I started with a simple pad of paper I had lying around. I have since started researching better options, but for now, this cheapie DIY version works.

I have anywhere from 1 – 12 items to do each day (not including work / project items, but that is another matter to tackle later on).

Every night, I look at what I did that day, I push what I didn’t do to the next list, and I open up my Things To Do app and go through what I want to do tomorrow, or whatever is scheduled for meetings or events.

What I do now:

On this, I write down everything I need to get done today and once I treat it, I put a symbol to the side to let me know where I am at.

I am using the methodology outlined by Ugmonk Analog, and created some of my own symbols…

SYMBOL Legend NOTES:

  • Half-finished circle: refers to things like laundry. I would start laundry and then forget to take it out & dry it. This helps immensely.
  • Arrow to tomorrow: Anything I move to “Tomorrow” means it has to get done but…. tomorrow. I didn’t have time to handle it today.
  • X Don’t do at all: This means I no longer need to do it. It fell off the list for whatever reason, became unnecessary or I missed something and no longer need to do it.
  • Circle arrow to do at a later date: This means I take it OFF this To Do Daily List, and put it in my To Do app as my brain dumping spot.
  • Time: Super important appointments, meetings, and so on.

So far, this analog system has been ridiculously productive for me.

As you can see above – I used an old cellphone stand (that I hate because I cannot swipe up on the bottom of the phone easily because of the metal ledge), and it is currently working as expected to be my little list.

It isn’t pretty but it does the job for now.

There are of course, other far nicer options if you so choose to embark on a similar adventure, and start listing out your daily things.

AESTHETIC Analog “To Do” lists

There are a bajillion options out there of To Do lists. Here are the companies that do all sorts of these lists:

You will find so many options depending on what you want…

CAVEAT EMPTOR: Buy a generic stand or easel instead

I bought a To Do stand that was really quite a disappointment for 3 main reasons:

A) The slot only fits cards made and created for that stand.

That means if you run out of cards, you can’t sub in index cards or some other version of note cards. You have to buy their very specific sized cards. Capitalism, amirite?

B) The size of the slot was also prohibitive to put a small notepad into it.

You could not. fit. it. Again, #capitalism.

So this stand, if you don’t use it for its intended cards, is completely useless to use for any other purpose.

C) Cards felt great, but weren’t big enough.

By this, I mean it only had a slot for 10 things to do. I do more than 10 in a day, because I list EVERYTHING out by task so that I don’t group a massive amount of work into one line and then get upset when it isn’t done. I didn’t like how they looked either (too spaced out, not compact), and the circle bit was too small… there was a lot that irked me. Tiny things, really.

I 100% suggest the following instead:

Buy a GENERIC stand or easel

Something that would prop up a phone (without magnetic holds that is, I am talking old school style stands), much like the one I have pictured above in my photos (generic Belkin foldable stand which is now discontinued, but you can buy something like this beautiful marble stand instead).

The pretty acrylic + gold stand above would be my choice (Russell + Hazel acrylic + gold easel)

FIND NOTEPADS OR CARDS THAT WORK FOR YOU

Any sort of notepad. Or index cards or whatever it is. I am someone who cannot stick to one product to save her life because I don’t see EXACTLY what I want out there, so I keep trying different versions until I find my Holy Grail.

If you are like this, or simply want to use cheap index cards to achieve the same effect for far cheaper, this is the best option.

That way, you can use the easel for something else – to hold your phone, tablet, another note pad .. whatever – and you aren’t out $$$$ buying something that is so tailored to a niche purchase that may not last.

I have a whole bunch of cute To Do notepads, little task lists.. and I will cycle through all of them to finally use my stash up.

You could switch them out – one with a Schedule for your weekday (so you can list meetings), and another without for the Weekends so you don’t feel the need to do everything on a time crunch.

MY IDEAL TO DO LIST

My favourite option would be to have a notepad split into two simple sections with Hourly schedule on the left, and then To Do on the right.

Sort of like this Ink & Volt – Today Organizer:

(I don’t like this one because I don’t need the Intention part at the top, and I don’t need a dotted list or a Water + Active tracker)

Here is another one – Daily Notepad from Poi & Hun that would sort of fit the bill but has too much extraneous stuff I don’t want as well like reminders or notes. I just want the middle part and more hours like from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Here are some other SIMILAR options but they aren’t quite what I want:

This is how I would use it:

Hourly Schedule Usage

The hourly schedule would not be to plan out what I do every hour, it would be ONLY to write down specific important meetings, appointments or events in each hour slot.

I am talking about going to the dentist, scheduled meetings that I CANNOT MISS, or whatever else.

I would like this, because currently on the To Do list, I have appointment time listed with the time in the space, but that doesn’t help me because I would actually need the line to write another task down, and I hate that my appointments are out of order.

.. I mean you can’t always plan when you have an appointment.

Sometimes you do your To Do list, and then later in the day, you get a call for a 3 p.m. meeting, so you need to add it to your schedule, but now it is all out of place at the bottom or middle of your list which I hate.

TO DO LIST Usage

This list would be to list all the tasks that need to be done.

That is it.

No mixing with appointments / meetings.

I have yet to find this notepad that looks nice, is simple, and just has TWO columns on either side – schedule & to do.

For now, I am sticking my appointments at the top with the time (leaving 2 lines free), and then writing my tasks underneath until I find WHAT I WANT.

2. separate “Priority Pads” for each of my WORK projects

I am a diehard fan of the Hemlock & Oak Priority Pad. It is a life changer for me for projects.

I have always used it since I discovered it last year, so no Before / After from me on this front. Before, I would just list things on a notepad and hope I remembered.

I never really have dates for things (except for a few times), so I like that I can keep this pad open until it is full and getting too scratched out, so I start a new one and re-list what is there so it is fresh and clean.

HOW I USE THIS

Each project gets a page.

I usually leave the first two boxes empty at the top because unless it is something super urgent for the week, I don’t bother filling it in (something new might come up mid-week, hence why it is blank).

Instead, I fill in what has to get done this week under LATER – URGENT, and then LATER – NOT URGENT for minor things.

I use it to keep track of what I plan on accomplishing that week, and the Braindump section is for me to write down questions for next week, or emails to be sent to get responses from.

Sometimes, mid-week, the form is fully filled and crossed out, so I start another one. It is so flexible and easy to use, that I can sometimes have a page open for weeks on the same topics, or use 3 pages in a week on the same project.

——

FYI – If you want something more structured as Weekly + Multiple To Do lists for different parts, then Ink & Volt in particular also has a great Power List deskpad as well that just has a whole bunch of To Do lists if you have multiple areas of your life to manage that need multiple To Do lists.

(You would definitely need the Russell + Hazel acrylic + gold easel for this because it is much larger, but it would work for managing multiple To Do lists if one small one is too.)

 

3. Brain dumping all the To Dos onto my THINGS To Do app

Whenever I think of something to be done, I type it into my Things To Do app. Even just a short note to tell myself what to do

I always did this, but then I tried to combine it with scheduling my life as well, and it got out of control. So now that I have separated Life Scheduling / Daily To Dos (see #1) with Brain Dumping, this has become a lot better.

I no longer bother trying to arrange it, but I do keep the task lines to try and kind of group things together.

It is used as a running list of tasks I cannot yet complete, and am keeping track of, but aren’t related to my daily tasks, or to my work-related projects.

Sometimes it is just a note like – “Research into benefits of eating dates” … stuff like that. It isn’t important but I want to remember to do it, because I was curious about it.

Within that app, I also have sections I created for each part of my life and then I brain dump thoughts to sift through later, but also to keep track of what is happening in all aspects of my life.

4. *Using separate weekly or monthly planners for the big picture at-a-glance moments for life and work

What I did before

Nothing. I just planned everything in ONE app and it was getting unwieldy. I can’t expect everything to fit into one page or one app.

What I do now

I have a weekly and monthly notepad planner I use ONLY for when I need to schedule things super tightly, and every minute or hour counts.

I am talking like travel or vacation things, or if I only have a week to get everything done and I have to go from one city to another, do XYZ then head back and do ABC …

I don’t really use it that often to be honest because I only use it to plan out down to the second / minute, or if I REALLY need my week to be scheduled and tightly locked in, in terms of planning.

I find planning for the week or month, to be really a lost cause for me. I cannot predict that far ahead unless it is for a trip, and I just have loose things to get done with firm deadlines.

Like taxes!

Due in April, can start them any time in January, but when I decide on actually starting the tax process is up to me, and my schedule of what else has to get done in priority.

I need to really think ahead of time and I try to only set ONE to TWO major asks or events per week to focus on rather than trying to do it all at once.

Like, if I have a major family happening that week that I am planning for or around, I need to not pack that week with other things that can be pushed to later.

If I see that there are two events that cannot be pushed, and a third one pops up, I have to decline or cancel something because I cannot pack in so many things (depending on the event). I don’t just keep packing it in like sardines in a can.

5. *Using Google Calendar as a reminder for rare timed / planned out in advance items

What I did before

Nothing. I put it all in my To Do app with the date and time like: MAR 31 14:00 …. and it was rough because it kept getting shoved down the list as I continued to brain dumped my life.

WHAT I DO NOW

Only in.. very.. VERY special circumstances, I use Google Calendar to send myself an email to remind myself that something is coming up.

I do this for Municipal and School Tax bills, renewing my licence, passport or anything that is SUPER VIP EXTREMELY IMPORTANT AND TIME SENSITIVE.

It is like an extra.. EXTRA reminder to not forget. It helps, because I check my emails often and I don’t typically email myself or set reminders, so when I see one, it gives me huge red alert vibes.

6. ALSO Using my PHONE PHOTOS to braindump

I do this daily. I mean I am constantly taking photos, and this is my visual To Do app, so to speak.

I screenshot anything I see online from:

  • emails I have to reply to (I take a screenshot of them to remind me)
  • things I have to do
  • things I want to buy
  • places to visit in various cities
  • restaurants to try
  • upcycling or outfit ideas
  • anything I have to distill into my Things To Do app as a task
  • anything I have to track or get done (that goes into an ‘Interim’ album that gets cleaned out every few months or so)

…and at the end of a day, or a week, or when I feel like the images are starting to get out of control (easy to see when the screenshots are a jumbled mess of emails and things), then I set aside half an hour and I deal with them.

 

7. SNOOZE EMAILS

I make a note by brain dumping in my To Do app, but sometimes I forget or it drops off my radar. This is why, for very important time-sensitive emails to follow-up on, I snooze them until a specific date / time.

Like if I have a subscription, and I later want to cancel before the free trial is up, I snooze it until 2 days before, and decide whether I keep the trial or not. Things like that.

It serves as another kind of reminder, for VERY specific emails that need time-sensitive following-up.

8. SPLIT TASKS INTO MINI TASKS

What becomes overwhelming on my To Do list, is putting vague, wide-reaching goals and then getting disappointed or frustrated when I don’t measure up.

So.. if I want to do something like: Organize all my Home Idea pictures

I don’t put it as the task. I break it down to the following tasks that I can do within a half hour or less each day

  1. Copy all Home Idea photos into one spot
  2. Create all the categories for the Home Ideas
  3. Sort the loose photos into categories
  4. Go through 5 folders to sort
  5. Go through the next 5 folders to sort

And that way, I can decide to do more or less depending on how my day is going, and it gets done, but in manageable bite-sized chunks.

SUMMARY

  1. Using an analog Daily To Do list
  2. Having two separate Priority Pads for each of my projects
  3. Brain dumping all the To Dos onto my To Do app on my phone
  4. *Using separate weekly or monthly planners for the big picture at-a-glance moments for life and work
  5. *Using Google Calendar as a reminder for rare timed / planned out in advance items (e.g. Pay municipal bill!)
  6. Using my phone to braindump screenshots of emails to reply to, images or places to distill into my task list
  7. Snooze emails
  8. Split tasks into mini tasks

——

Et voilà.

Want more? Here are all my Organizing Series posts.

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