Do you have trouble making a list of what you have to do for the day, especially when it comes to organizing your things?
Are you constantly struggling to get things done?
If you said yes to those questions, then this post applies to you.
You will learn how to do a checklist that will be guaranteed to 10X your productivity and save you hours of your time that can be spent doing things that will get you ahead at your job, your relationship, your day to day housecleaning at the house if you are a lovely wife, and your life itself.
This doesn’t require a lengthy notebook nor any fancy software nor big pieces of paper that’ll just get crumbled in your pocket or disorganized in your big notebook!
Now you might be thinking “I’m so organized with my notebook and I love it! Why should I ditch it?”
Well that’s a good question that I will address here in this blog post.
But first, here’s the solution:
1. Get Sticky Notes, NOT a Binder Nor Software
This one might come as a shock to you since you might be relying on software or a binder to write down everything that you need to do for the day, but writing everything down on a sticky notes is extremely effective for this reason.
1) They are easily accessible if you place them on the face of your wallet
Let’s face it, you don’t want to have to carry around something that you can lose very quickly if you forget.
An item like a binder might fit into that category and you probably know it.
You can be at an important event like a meeting, but when you leave the meeting, you do take most of your things and you feel comfortable.
But after an hour or two when you get back to your office or home, you look into your purse or your briefcase and you realize that you forgot something.
Your binder/to do list.
That’s a big “uh oh.”
So then you have to go back and pick it up, which takes time away from your day that you really needed to get stuff done.
Imagine what you can do with that time.
Now you get a sticky note, or sticky notes, and you place those notes on the face of your wallet and they just stick there.
As a result of that, you don’t need to carry that planner around nor remember where you put it, especially since you could easily lose it.
Also, your to do list is easily accessible since you just need to pull out your wallet and boom, the notes are there.
This one little trick can save you from the risk of losing time later on and it will allow you to get more done later in the day.
Just think about the peace of mind that you will experience when you realize this reality.
The only thing that you need to do are buy sticky notes, write out your tasks on them, and stick them onto the face of your wallet.
Now you might be asking “What if I need more than one sticky note? Might that be a mess?”
It could be if you go about it the wrong way.
To resolve this, when you do the task that I will show you in the next section of this blog post, just create it as if you writing the first page of something and then the second page of something and so on.
And just attach them all together.
And when you go through them, just take out your wallet and flip through them and look at what page the task is on.
Might this be more messy than just using a binder?
Yes.
But the real factor in this is the sticky note(s) reduces the risk of not losing your binder, which will save you time and money and help you get more done throughout the day.
Not to mention that you get to create the system yourself instead of one being constructed for you. So if you like pride and ownership of processes, this is the to do list system for you.
In fact, let me show you some testimonials of this being the case.
This testimonial from one woman mentions that using a white post it note is extremely more beneficial in getting your attention than just using a sketch pad or index cards.
You can read more about that here if you wish.
This other article right here mentions that writing on paper is actually a lot more useful than using a laptop to take your notes. You can read more about that here.
Oh and that’s scientifically proven as well. You can read about that here.
Are you convinced now that sticky notes on your wallet are the way to go?
If you are not, list your objections in the comments below. I’ll respond to them individually. I’ll be more than happy to help you out.
Once you have your sticky notes, then here’s what you do next:
2. Play the Day in Your Mind and Use That to Figure Out What You Need to Do
This one little step will force you to put your day in chronological order and write it out on the spot without having to speculate and guess later in the day.
Just think about what you will do in the morning, what you will do during the afternoon, and what you will do during the evening.
List every event out based off of the time interval that they will take place.
For instance, breakfast 8-8:45 am in the morning.
Meeting 9-10:30 am in the morning.
Work 10:45-12:30 pm
Lunch 12:45-1:45 pm
Work 2-5pm
Go home 5-6pm
Shower and eat 6-7pm
Do what I want time 7:15 pm-10pm
This is ideally the format of the list (of course, not exactly this schedule) that you would want throughout the day on a simple sticky note.
Now of course, notes for a business meeting should NOT be used for sticky notes; that needs to be done in the binder. Read this if you are guilty of forgetting something.
But for a daily schedule?
Yep, just one sticky note on your wallet will do.
That will take away unnecessary responsibility from your shoulders.
And that’s basically just writing down everything that you need for the day and acting on it.
And there’s one more important step to this:
3. Commit to Your Plan Each and Every Day
This is the most important step out of all of them because it is SO easy to forget and you MUST know this one to be successful in anything that you do.
Commit for at least 30 consecutive days that you will do this and you will make writing sticky note to do lists on your wallet a habit that will “stick” in your brain and last for a lifetime!
If you are having trouble committing, let me ask you this question.
How much money would this save you?
How much time would this save you?
Could you eliminate some stress?
Could you give yourself peace of mind by doing this?
If all of those check off of the yes mark, then it’s at least worth a try.
It’s free, so you don’t have to give me a penny even if it works.
You don’t owe me a dime, but I’m just suggesting to you something that can drastically change your life if you just see that this one little productivity trick will open up a range of possibilities for you.
The sooner that you finish this, the more you will be free to get other things done and the more time you can have to concentrate on those things not yet done.
Do this so that you can get on with other things that require your attention.
Read this if you are not convinced.
Have a great day friend and subscribe if you got a lot out of this blog post. And comment with your results as well.
Until next time,
This is Chief Islander Evan signing off.
Evan Cruz
Evan Cruz is the founder of Join the Island, the website committed to helping young adults become massively productive and reach their full potential.
He has been featured on Vox, OnlineU, and UpJourney. He has also a cited human relations expert and college expert.
He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering.
Read more about Evan and Join the Island here.