The dreaded to-do list…
I don’t know about you, but I struggle with my “to do” list and on any given day, my desk is littered with bit of paper, stickies, a “proper” to do list, notes on the computer desktop, and my book, without which I’d really be lost! Not to mention the thousands of emails that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get a handle on! In short, I’m drowning in it! I dream about being an incredibly organised human being, and have great admiration for those who are, but as a solo business owner, the reality is an overwhelming amount of detail that I have to remember (my brain gets a bit full sometimes!), so I am constantly looking for better ways.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been researching online tools that will make my life easier, better, less cluttered, and get rid of all those sticky notes (and a few emails too)! Makes perfect sense really – I spend my working life online and that flows into the rest of my life too, and the line between work and home get blurrier by the day!
Ways to handle the detail…
I’ve used the reminders in iCal, but never really liked them much; and I’ve tried adding way more detail than I need to in my diary.
I do use Evernote, and I really love it but use it for project notes rather than to do list.
And, I’ve tried many other list-type apps and sites – especially to help me keep track of the hundreds of websites I have bookmarked. I still haven’t found my best solution for this particular dilemma yet, so any suggestions would be most appreciated!
What works for me…
So, with apologies to The Cure, It’s Friday and I’m in love … with Wunderlist!
To try and shift all those bits of paper, I’ve been using Wunderlist this week, and I am really loving it!! It’s “just” a to-do list that you can sort by due date, day by day or week, or alphabetically … you get my drift! I can add notes, tick the box when a job has been completed which is incredibly satisfying, and I especially love the simplicity of how it looks. I can set it to send me reminders, and it keeps track of what I didn’t get done so I can do something about it.
Wunderlist syncs on the web, on the phone, and on the iPad. I can add things in one place wherever I am, and a big bonus for me is that I can share those lists with clients so they can see where I’m up to, and add their own tasks too without having to send emails and more emails!
Getting organised…
I know it’s going to take a little while ot get all those bits of paper and sticky notes (and whats in my head for that matter) into Wunderlist, but ultimately no more little bits of paper for this little black duck! I’ve made great progress this week, and it’s all working well!
Do you use Wunderlist or something similar? I’d love to hear about what works for you or are you one of those incredibly gifted people like a friend of mine who is so organised that you know you’ll get a Christmas card from her on 1 December every year!
Take a look at wunderlist.com and evernote.com – they might be the solution for you too!
And just in case you want to listen …
