The Endless To-Do List

Listing, listing

You’ve probably experienced it yourself—the endless to-do list! Every item is like one of the Hydra’s heads. Kill off one and two more pop up in its place! This condition is even deadlier if you’re running your own business.

What to do? There are some great tools that can help you.

Organize Your Desk

First, you’ll be able to think much more clearly if you get rid of the visual clutter around your work area. For instance, get all electronics out of sight. Second, go wireless as much as you can. Wherever you can’t go wireless, buy some wire wraps at Radio Shack and organize those self-tangling cables.

You can find these and other tips for an organized desk at the blog Productivity 501:
Productivity 501

Organize Your Time

For some of the best planning and time management tools, David Seah offers exceptional templates that you can download for free from his blog.
David Seah

One of them, The Printable CEO™ (PCEO), lets the user focus her time more productively, and makes her business both sustainable and fun.
The Printable CEO

The blog also offers a free “compact calendar” that I find works better than almost anything I’ve seen out there—and I’ve been looking for years! You can print the sheets, or create your own compact calendars based on the Excel template
Compact Calendar

Use these tools wisely, and you’ll find yourself killing off your to-do list with a vengeance!

But wait! What’s the point in becoming super efficient and productive if all you’re doing is crossing items off your list? Your to-do list should allow you to better leverage your time and talent so that you can move your business forward. You can’t really harness your creativity if you’re always making lists.

Next topic: go beyond just getting things done. Take lateral action!