I love a crisp to-do list.

Cracking open my notebook, I'm greeted by the column of unchecked boxes set the night before. I’m motivated by the potential for a day well-spent.

"Today's the day I get it all done," I say.

The morning always starts well. Coffee in-hand, I dive head-first into the first task with excitement. Because it's at the top of the list, it always gets done.

It's after this first checkmark goes into my notebook that my day starts to wobble. The rest of the day whizzes by in a blur. As the day comes to a close, the list of unchecked boxes glares back at me.

I've been thinking more about why this happens. And what I've found is single tasks get are easy to do. It's the transition between tasks when things start to crumble.

If I was able to check a box and move onto the next one, I would get through my list every time.

But checking a box usually comes with a break. And that breaks leads me to Twitter. And Twitter can lead me anywhere.

Before I know it, I'm lost in transition.

How I'm Fixing It

I lose myself in transition for three reasons:

The next to-do is vague
The next to-do uses a different kind of thinking
The list itself is too long

When the next task is vague, it can be intimidating. So I've started being very specific with the exact action that gets the task started.

Instead of "☐ Write Blog Post" I scribble "☐ Open Notion and Brainstorm Three Sentence Ideas."

When the next task uses a different kind of thinking, there is a high start-up cost. Switching from programming to writing looks doable on paper, but never works out in practice.

So I've started grouping together tasks which require the same way of thinking. I then structure my day around these groups, slotting the tasks accordingly. I'm most creative and productive early in the morning, but more thoughtful and analytical in the afternoon. When I'm through my morning creative tasks, I'll take a long walk and get ready for the analytical part of my day.

Finally, when the list is too long, I sometimes give up entirely. There are few more ambitious people than my 9 PM self setting my intentions for the next day. So recently I've started splitting my list into two lists — a "have-to-do" and a "nice-to-do."

The "have-to-do" is always shorter than the "nice-to-do." As long I check off each of the "have-to-dos," I feel good at the end of the day. Anything from the "nice-to-do" is just bonus points.

The last thing I'm doing when my list is too long is to simply shorten it. I look the list up and down, find the two lowest leverage tasks, and cross them out. It always pains me to do this, but I know it's the right thing to do.

Conclusion

We all want to get more done. If you experience similar feelings about your to-do list, give these tactics a try. The subtle changes have made me more effective and leave me closing each day a bit more fulfilled.