Could scribbles on a scrap of paper be the secret behind high productivity?

Every rocket launched into space, every submarine sent to the depths of the ocean, every successful project, and every household managed effectively has a to-do list to thank.

Complicated project schedules, deliverable lists, task lists etc. are all humble to-do lists at their core. Over time they have evolved to include many more valuable metrics. A rocket launch would have hundreds of such lists being used to manage its successful execution.

To-do lists belong in my top 3 productivity hacks. The other two being — Show up day after day after day, and break work down into smaller, manageable chunks.

A to-do list is a straightforward documentation of what needs to be done during the day / month and so on. You can use scraps of paper, a diary or a fancy digital app, but make sure you have a to-do list. The biggest advantage is you do not tax your brain with storing the list of things to be done. By documenting your list, you can free up your brain function to pursue higher cognition tasks — like thinking, imagining, planning and executing.

Write down every single task that you need to do. Even the tasks you committed to during a corridor chat should be on this list. This will ensure that you will never have to lose face saying “Oh, I forgot”. A well maintained to-do list helps build your credibility.

The second thing you need to do is establish a ritual for reviewing your to-do list. This needs to be a daily ritual — morning / night / any other time — whatever works for you. But a daily ritual is a must. The review includes re-prioritisation, addition and deletion of tasks. You can also maintain different to-do lists — long term objectives, general to-do list, office to-do list, home to-do list. These are also very useful.

In summary, to-do lists are a brain dump of everything you need to get done, from buying groceries to climbing Mt. Everest. They seem trivial, but they provide you the same leverage that a small rudder provides to a huge ship.

If you aren’t already a practitioner of to-do lists, then start right away, and see your productivity increase exponentially.