How do you tackle your to-do list?

To do lists will kill your time. Just make top 5 priority lists and the rest will send to VA or outsource it.

Suggestion for you: Read "Eat That Frog". Basically says you take care of the biggest thing right away, and then go chase the little stuff if you have time.

The best way to attack your to do list is to prioritize it based on its importance.

Write down all your tasks and set a date/time to complete each task.

As above have mentioned start with your main task and Complete it before moving on, when i first started i would start my main task and get bored and instead of just having a break id think why waste time doing nothing il just start the next task to break it up so id drift of to the next & next and so on and half the time it was resulting in me having half the task half complete because i wasnt sticking to one task until i have completed it..

You have to take a look at what task will get you closer to your goal. Then decide to do it and make it a priority. Take care of it first and then move on to the next.

Same thing with daily marketing of your business. You need to plan each day out the day before. Sit down right before you go to sleep and figure out what you want to get done the next day.

Whether it is blogging, article marketing, new videos, over looking your PPC campaigns, etc.

Thanks everyone for your responses. A lot of great advice here!

For those that recommended outsourcing - that isn't an option for me right now. But it's something to consider for the future.

I like the idea of prioritizing based on my overall goals. I just think I need to re-think what I want to accomplish first. I like doing more than one thing at a time, but I think it makes it hard to really focus on any project fully. Will have to make some decisions.

I always write down what needs to be done the night before. It's a quick list, nothing huge. A couple of bullets and good to go.

BUT putting the most important things first (like others have said) helps a TON. These things are also usually the things that you might not want to do ... but must be done.

Get 'em done bright and early and the move onto the other stuff.

When I look at my to do list I always make sure at least one thing on it is something I really love doing....... I reward myself each time I tick something off the list

When I get really stuck I ignore the list and take the day off.......... doing that means I dont often get stuck and I never hate my list

Write down everything you have to do the night before so you get it off your mind and can sleep well that night. When you wake up in the morning, prioritize the list to your top few items for that day.

Wunderlist is a great to do list tool that allows you to create different folders based on the priority of your tasks. Plus it syncs with every computer and mobile platform. I'd try it.

Isn't writing another schedule just further procrastination though?

I write SO many to-do lists that it becomes a "to do" to just go through all the to-do lists! so i'm actually having a to-do app built for my iphone since none of the to do apps thus far have helped me to DO anything!

what helps me to get things done is having a set goal for THAT DAY that i want to get done and making sure i do at least that one, in terms of business.

i read somewhere about having a to do list of only TWO items and never having more than those. do the Two and then move on to another Two.

I use a technique called the pomdoro method..
Just google it if you are interested.
Essentially it's an online timer that you set for 25 minutes..
Set it up, start it.. do your work and complete the task.
move on to next task.

instead of a TODO list, have a DONE list.

Its a very strong mental reinforcement of the progress you make on a daily basis.

www.theresultsacademy.com/pdf/DONE.pdf

For me I am a big fan of David Allen and his book Getting Things Done

Basically what he does is takes things a bit further than just to-do lists.

For example he sorts lists by context. Why?

because let's say that you are at work and you have 10 minutes between your last appointment and the next meeting. If you mix the calls that you need to make, with other action steps like talk to George about finalizing the numbers on xyz project, setup new account in Gmail, etc then you would spend most of that time searching for the calls you need to make instead of actually making them.

So what he recommends is that you sort your todo lists by context. So all the calls you need to make would go on an @Calls list, and if you were in that same situation above where you had 10 minutes between meetings then instead of spending all that time going through your todo list looking for the calls to make, all you need to do is to pull out your @Calls list and start making your calls.

Same with say errands. You can put all the errands you need to make on one @Errands list and when you are out and about you just pulll that out and can see all the errands you need to do.

This is all based on the principle that you don't need to see actions/todo's when you are not in the context where you are able to do them. In other words you don't need to see your work to-do's when you are not at work.

So it is more efficient to sort by context.

I also agree with Patrick and second "The Pomodoro Technique"

Especially if you are the kind of person who has a to-do list and tends to keep veering off of that list and/or just spends maybe 10 minutes at a time actually working and the rest of the time playing around browsing the internet etc.

The pomodoro techinique will teach you and get you in the habit of focusing wich is the base skill in productivity

I think I use a combination of @ocus and @shane_k - I call mine an 'action list'. It's a small mental shift but has made a difference for me. I want to take action on the things on this list but don't 'feel' like I have to 'do' them - not sure that this is clear. I write my action list the night before in the order I want to accomplish my tasks. I tick them off as they are done.

I want to accomplish at least two big things each day and if I get to more I feel good, if I get to the two I feel good and I stay up until I finish at least two. I do not feel bad or overwhelmed by the length of the list (I understand the 200 things!) because my goal is to get through at least two.

I write down the action list in context as well. I keep all phone calls together, all writing together and try to time my networking so I'm not distracted all day.

I learned a lot of this from listening to Jim Edwards and then put my own little tweak on it. I think that's what has worked best for me - learning from others and then learning how I can make that work in my own personal situation. It takes a bit of time, but while you are learning you're still accomplishing!