The Secrets of To-Do Lists That DO Work For You

Angie oversees Cazoomi's operations. She enjoys traveling, loves dogs, is a 1% Pledge supporter, and a start-up entrepreneur with investments in several APAC startups. 5 minute read

The Secrets of To-Do Lists That DO Work For You

Are your to-do lists getting out of hand?

Are you always complaining and can’t seem to understand why you have too much on your plate throughout the day?

Don’t you just hate that feeling? Of course, you do! And you are not alone.

According to the Huffington Post, over 40 percent of daily to-do lists are never completed. Well, the truth is, business people in start-ups (especially!) and well-established organizations have a lot to do.

New entrepreneurs have to put in extra effort to ensure that their businesses break even. Already established brands, on the other hand, need to stay competitive in their respective fields. And so the executives feel the need to take on as much as they possibly can.

This is how most of them end up stretching themselves too thin as their work schedule starts to overflow halfway through the day. But even as you focus on productivity and strive to attain the set goals, it is important to prioritize various activities to ensure that you work on all areas effectively. Creating a to-do list is the most common way to organize the tasks that need completion in a prioritized way.

It is a good approach to beating deadlines and increasing productivity. You can go about it the old-fashioned way, using pen and paper. If that’s not your cup of tea, no problem! You can find plenty of apps for any device that you can use for your to-do list.

But here’s the thing: how you write your to-do list has very little to do with its efficiency. What is in it, on the other hand, has everything to do with how much you get out of it.

Let’s take a look at some tips to help you organize your to-do list like a productivity powerhouse:

Delegation Is Your Best Friend

There are a lot of things that need to be done in an organization. It is impossible for business managers to perform all the roles alone. Even though we all feel tempted to try. If you want something done right, do it yourself – ever thought like that?

Well, if you did, I’m sorry to say it may be just the mind that killed your productivity. Some of the activities require sequential coordination for efficiency. As a manager, you need to delegate a portion of these tasks to your team. Delegation helps ease the workload while maximizing productivity.

Furthermore, in today’s workplace, there is an increase in the number of decentralized teams. Some employees work from home, and others work from the office. Research indicates that most organizations consider cloud software for solutions. For example, a CEO can create a central communication system for employees working from the office and home.
Cloud services offer various collaboration tools that allow members of staff to share relevant files. They can access the files from any location via an internet connection. Managers can also keep track of the delegated work via the software without long in-person meetings.

Set a Time Limit

Allocating time for every activity on your to-do list is essential in making realistic decisions. Most people use calendars or reminders on their mobile devices to set deadlines. You can also use a schedule or a time tracker to track performance, thus ensuring that your employees complete their tasks on time. Use of cloud integration with on-premise applications also focuses on timely delivery and increases visibility into your services.

Managers get to establish a time limit for every project. They can incorporate key performance indicators to gauge the employees and the effectiveness of the software used. Measuring the output against time delivery via cloud services is possible.

This way, you don’t just focus on your own productivity, but on the one of your entire team. In time, you will be able to derive important insights that tell you how to optimize everything better.

Support Decentralized Teams

Lack of synchronization among team members might leave out some tasks unattended. Maintaining a cloud-based centralized system connects employees working from the office with those working from home.

Similarly, it can help you stay connected to your team whenever you are traveling (even halfway around the world) or simply out of the office. Thus, you don’t lose your productivity, and you don’t leave the things on your to-do list unattended just because you don’t have your staff around.

The system uses various tools to sync data and contacts. For example, SaaS integration and SaaS connectors are effective approaches to sharing data without providing access to third parties.

This provides a platform to share common documents. Provision of easy access to common resources helps streamline the process and enhance productivity. In turn, streamlining the processes reduces any chance of delays with the prioritized projects.

Furthermore, integration within project management software creates reliable solutions within the system. Productive tools such as CRM accounting, MailChimp, Salesforce, and Constant Contact work well together. A reliable system provides an interactive platform for primary functions of a business such as marketing, logistics, finance, and customer support. It makes it easy to complete projects on time because of effective communication and no delays.

Update Your List

Review your to-do list to gauge the progress and update it. Cloud-based integration and data integration allows automatic updates on your schedule once the projects are completed. You do not have to spend much time on supervision and assessment. Automated systems reduce workload and boost productivity. Some systems prioritize complex tasks and break them down for better understanding by employees.

Don’t let your to-do list run your day. Use it to get stuff done. This is its primary goal, after all. Our integration tools can help you keep things moving as intended, boost productivity, as well as keep those red flags at bay.