CONQUERING THAT TO-DO LIST - Part 1

Guest Author: Beverly Zibrak, President of the Word Doc, Brookline, MA

Do you feel like you never make progress on your to-do list?  You're not alone.  A recent LinkedIn poll found that only 11% of respondents said they finish what's on their to-do lists.  But that doesn't mean you should give up your to-do list -- we all need lists to stay on track.  Here are some tips to make that to-do list more manageable:

Log Your Day - Keep a log of your activities for a week to see if you're spending time on unproductive tasks.  Be diligent in tracking your activities, carefully noting how long a task takes.  If you do some of the same things repeatedly, think of how you can save time so that you are not constantly reinventing the wheel.

More Is Better - When you create your to-do list, put anything and everything on it, even if it's something menial, such as eating lunch or reading the mail.  That way, there's more satisfaction in crossing things off.

More tips next month!

Beverly Zibrak is President of the Word Doc, a writing and editing services firm dedicated to helping small business with all their communication needs, including web content development, press releases and marketing communications, and blog posts.  You can reach Beverly at www.worddocusa.com.