Want to Unfrazzle Your Life? Burn Your To-Do List!

If your work life-or home life-is out of control, and you feel the need to get it back on track, start by burning your to-do list. Why? Well, let's start with the notion that they just don't work! Most people who use to-do lists spend more time on making and revising and re-creating lists than they do actually getting items crossed off them!
The big problem with to-do lists, whether you use sticky notes, sheets of paper, or a PIM (Personal Information Manager), like Outlook, is that they make no allowance for how much time it actually takes to perform a given task. The net effect is that you end up with a seemingly endless list of tasks that absolutely have be accomplished and, having spent countless hours putting your list together, you are no closer to getting the first task crossed off your list than when you started.
Try this, instead. Use your PIM to make appointments to deal with tasks. I use Microsoft Outlook to run my life. I started by resetting the software to show my day in 5 minute increments. Then I began entering everything that would normally be on my to-do list. And, I do mean everything. I made entries for every phone call I intended to make, every bill I needed to pay, and every bit of research I needed to do.
As my list started to grow, I began moving less important tasks to future dates, using the drag and drop features in the weekly and monthly view. As soon as I moved an appointment, I stopped for a moment to evaluate how long I thought it might take to complete the task. Brief phone calls stayed at five minutes. Phone calls to people that I know can be chatty were adjusted to 10 or 15 minutes. If I knew that I would be going out of my office to accomplish a task, I made sure that I included travel time when setting the appointment duration.
Here's how I use my PIM: