Does your head often fill with tons of things you’d like to do and you keep forgetting about them or writing way too much down? Maybe the running to do list method I do will help you out. Today on the blog, I’m sharing with you my simple running to do list method I use every week to help me stay on track and keep realistic expectations on myself too.
“A running to-do list is a list full of items, generally without a deadline.”
I started implementing a running to do list to my planner. And I restart it every Monday. It’s essentially a “dumping ground” for possible tasks I want to work through during the week. However, if I don’t get to them? No problem, I can bump them to next week. It very quickly also helps me see if I’m being realistic.
Here’s an example of what mine looks like:
I have categories for work and home and personal most weeks. The night before, I always sit down for a few minutes and plan out my day and a part of my routine is looking at my running to do list to see if I’d like to transfer anything out to focus on the next day.
I use “<” from the bullet journaling method overtop the bullet to indicate I transferred it out.
This method has truly simplified my weeks because I can see at a glance what I’d like for the full week and then prioritize from there as well as remind myself that I am not a robot and can’t do everything, so have to remain relastic-ish with what I write down. If anything overflows, I can create a separate page for a future list too. I haven’t had that happen much yet so far, so I must be onto something (for me at least).
Further reading? I enjoyed the book Eat that Frog for planning and procrastination tips as well as the Bullet Journal Method for simple planning (the method I use within my current planner setup in this blog).
PS if you’d like to chat about this method more with me, feel free to drop me a line at simplehomemom@gmail.com and I’ll also share my two favourite, simple videos for getting you started with the basics of the bullet journal method I learned from, too! You can also find more blogs on my simple planning method under the tag “simple planning” (click below).
Hi, I’m Kelly! I’m a mother of four children - three boys, one toddler girl - and our family lives on the beautiful east coast of Canada. I’m a past elementary teacher, turned stay at home, work at home mom eight years ago after I had my second child. I’ve found that the busier I’ve become and as my children age, that it’s become even more important to figure out what is most important to me and us as a family. Living a simpler lifestyle has helped us in so many ways in our home life - from better routines to faster tidying up times. It has been through my children that I have been inspired to learn how to effectively manage my time and to simplify in all areas of my home and life. I enjoy helping busy moms simplify home life by teaching flexible planning methods and skills. Enjoyed this blog and think it would be helpful to others? I'd love if you shared it. Thank you!