Ah. Life. There’s always something to do, isn’t there? Today as I type I am aware that I need to do the dishes, change the cat litter, fold some laundry (oh no, is the laundry still wet in the dryer?), and do some food shopping. And that doesn’t even include the various things I need to do for my writing business or the photo project that I’ve adopted and have apparently put on hold.

As I type this, I keep scribbling items for my shopping list. Sometimes the brain doesn’t rest.

Create a Master List of Projects

But overall, I’m at peace. I’ve simplified my daily tasks considerably which will make me more productive. I read a book recently called 5 Bucks a Day that changed my perspective. Instead of trying to do everything all at once, I broke things up into a series of tasks. As I complete each task, I cross it out. Right now I have something to finish up for a client. I won’t take on anything else until that project is complete.

I have so many ideas both for writing and my other creative projects it is hard to figure out which to focus on. So instead of cluttering my brain trying to figure it out, I simply put it on the list, do it, and cross it out when you’re done.

How to Create Your Own Projects List

I thought I’d share with you the steps I took to create my own master list.

• Daily tasks. First, I came up with a list of daily tasks that I would complete no matter what. These include performing simple maintenance tasks, checking my stats and email, etc.

• Think about what I want to accomplish. I either thing this through in my head or make a list. Some projects may be too big to expect to do in one swoop. For example, my goal of becoming a Giant Squid will be a lot of work, so I broke this up into smaller tasks on my project list.

• Create the Projects List. After you figure out what you want to accomplish, you can come up with your projects list. If the project is large, such as writing a novel, think about what you can reasonably accomplish in a week or so and turn that task into a checklist item.

Want to see a glimpse of my current list? Here is a snapshot:

• Finish up project for client
• create ten new squidoo lenses
• write 1 ezine article for each existing squidoo lens

You get the point. This method allows me to more closely monitor my progress and prevents me from experiencing information overload.

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