Going from a “To Do” List to a “Done” List

 I’m a big believer in using To Do lists. For the longest time, I have used it to help me remember all of the things that I want or need to do.

 

I normally keep a “To Do” list for everyday things on my phone:

 

 

These are just the everyday things I want or need to get done, from Monday through Friday. And please don’t tease over the “read magazine” part. I have a TON of magazines in my room that I never got around to reading! (Pretty much why I unsubbed from them.) I don’t want to throw them out without READING them first. It’s just me being hungry for information and wanting to read EVERYTHING. So, it’s on my To Do list as a reminder to freaking READ those magazines! At least one a day.

 

Sometimes, in the past, I was able to do ALL of those things Other times, I was able to check off at least one item in each category.

 

It’s a good day when I check off ALL of the things on my To Do list!

 

I haven’t been using that list too often recently because of my leg injury. Thankfully, my leg is finally healing and I will soon begin physical therapy so that I can walk normally again AND hopefully start running again. I hope! (Fingers crossed!)

 

Anyway! That is all the information about my To Do list on my phone!

 

For all the writing work that I get done, I wanted to use a paper planner. I didn’t want to use an online tracker like I have in the past or something on my phone. I wanted something to WRITE in and something I could feel the pages of. (It’s a writer thing.)

 

So, I use a planner.

 

But I soon found that using this same strategy of keeping a “To Do” list in my planner for my writing work just wasn’t feasible.

 

Of course, the purpose of a planner is to “plan out” the day. Write down the things you plan to do for that particular day.

 

That actually happened with today’s entry in my planner (pics are of "before" and "after"):

 

 

 

But for all of the other days, it just wasn’t working!

 

I’d write down what I wanted to happen on certain days but, sadly, I couldn’t get all of them done. This proved to be very frustrating!

 

 

Then, one day, I noticed that my oldest was doing something different with his planner. Instead of checking off things he was planning to get done for the day, he wrote down what he did. (Gotta love millennials for turning the tables on old fashioned ideas and giving them an upgrade!)

 

I thought this was a great idea!

 

It was a while, however, before I started to do the same thing with my own planner. I’m just stubborn like that! I was DETERMINED to stick to my plan!

 

Until one day, I decided, screw it! It’s time for a new strategy!

 

That new strategy was writing down the things that I managed to do in that day, not what I was hoping to get done but was unable to get done.

 

In a way, I was turning my planner into a diary of the work I have done for the writing for that particular day. I used to keep a writing log, but for some reason, that habit disappeared.

 

So, I guess, in a way, this was a new writing log!

 

I started writing in my planner the things I did for that day, rather than the things I wanted to do. I soon found this to be MUCH less stressful and there was NO frustration over seeing items I was unable to do on that list because, this time, there were things that I did!

 

It was no longer a “to do” list. It was a “done” list.

 

And after a month of doing such a thing, I gotta say, I love it! Not only am I experiencing the satisfaction of seeing what I have done for the day, but I was happier to see that I got so much accomplished in my day.

 

 

After a while of using this method, I started to use notations to keep track of what kind of writing I got done for the day. Because I am a freelance writer, ghostwriter, book reviewer and, now, an editor, I found that if I coded my entries with the different types of work I got done in my day, then it was easier for me to make sure I got EVERYTHING done.

 

And since I’m a writer, I decided that maybe I should also keep track of the days I get that writing done. I DO try to write every day, but sometimes it doesn’t happen. Still, it is my goal, and so I felt it might help to note the days I was able to write.

 

 

 

Yes, “SW” is also on there. Aside from SW being the initials of one of my besties, it stands for “scriptwriting” – in this case, a scriptwriting course I am taking. I want to learn how to write scripts because I hope to break into the scriptwriting field someday. (I am using this year to learn all about it and churn out crappy scripts until I finally start writing ones that I think have a chance.) That “someday” will happen soon, I hope. It depends on how well I can manage learning the craft!

 

Then, of course, there were days when NOTHING got done because of…stuff.

 

I wrote down why I didn’t do those things because I like to hold myself accountable and I want to know why I didn’t get those things that I wanted to do done. I had an interview lined up for a gig and an editor waiting for an essay. Unfortunately, I lost that gig opportunity, because they were in a rush to hire writers. (No harm, though! I now have a NEW gig and this editor is way more awesome and way more understanding than that other one!) As far as the essay was concerned, I had a very understanding editor in that case. I did get the essay to her and edits are done. It will be published this month!

 

On other days, when I’m only able to get very little done, I just write “busy day” as the reason. Those days DO crop up! I am not just a writer, ya know. Life gets busy.

 

One surprising result of this new strategy with my planner was that I actually started being more productive with my days, filling up those boxes with more things I managed to get done! On those days, I would mutter “I need more boxes” because I was running out of room to log everything!

 

The picture above, in the "after" part from today, is a perfect example of this.

 

Even so, this kind of method for tackling items on a “To Do” list has been great and very effective. It’s a powerful productive tool and I’m actually surprised at what has resulted from it.

 

But I am also happy about the results, too. It has definitely made me a better and more productive writer.

 

Having the planner has also been helpful to serve as reminders of deadlines. I often come across submission window deadlines, so if I feel I can submit something to that market, anthology call, or that publisher, then I will note this in the planner at that time.

 I also make reminders of things I want to happen later on in the year, also to serve as a reminder of what I need to get DONE in time to meet that self-imposed deadlines. 

 

 

I’m so glad that I decided to start writing down in my planner the things I managed to DO in my day instead of what I want to get done. It has really been effective! I highly recommend this strategy to anyone who has been struggling to complete their To Do lists. As long as you know what you need to do (and it doesn’t hurt to schedule things for certain days, either), this type of method can absolutely help you go from having a list of things “to do” to having a list of things you got done.