Make Powerful To Do Lists that Focus You

If you’re like me, we juggle so many tasks and things we want to get done.

I work hard on (piddle at) all of them at the same time. Then everyday at quitting time, I don’t have much to show. Talk about wasted days.

There’s got to be a better way! Right?

All I need is a little focus.

A stern deadline wouldn’t hurt either.

Using Workflowy

Last month I began using Workflowy to help me. It doesn’t give me deadlines, but it’s a better To-Do-List than any paper version I ever tried.

And it’s free.

Nothing to lose in trying it out, except a little time.

Workflowy is so easy and intuitive that it took no time at all to learn how to use it.

I switched from the spiral notebook in a snap. And gained a great benefit:

I don’t have to turn back spiral pages anymore to make sure I don’t miss any task going forward.

After signing up, I watched some videos on how to use it even more powerfully (see links at end of post).

Here’s a few things I do with Workflowy

• Brainstorming – I dump thoughts and then reorganize them later with cool drag and drop. This helps clear my mind and doubles as my memory.
• Notes – I can make notes about each item on the list, such as where to find info to complete the task.
• Share – I can share parts of the list with collaborators or family. Comes in handy for grocery lists.
• Inbox – I have a catch-all box where I toss randomness. Later, I  sort and take action. A clearing-my-mind exercise.
• Tagging – I can create tags and sort the list according to tags. This makes a concise do-this-now-dummy list, or weekly, monthly list. A totally cool feature.
• Scratch off – Yes, you can. I can scratch a line through the task when I finish it! I can hide the completed tasks. Or un-hide them to make me feel like I accomplished something.
• Un-Scratch off – I can make a completed task return to live. Helpful when milk needs to go back on the grocery list.
• Outline – Workflowy creates awesome multi-layered outlines that are great for creating a project, event or book. You can create whatever outline/to-do list you wish. Actually, your whole life can be outlined in Workflowy. Talk about knowing what to do next!

• Check out the overview of my To Do List outline:
• INBOX
• Focused Work (To Do List)
• Sharpen the Saw
• Family
• Creating Content / Product
• Manage Blog / Business
• Speaking / Church Work
• Other 5%
• Long Term Projects
• Chores

• Focus – Focus on one section at a time. If I want to focus on creating content, I’d click into that list and begin a focused work on the items in that list. This list has several tasks that are nested according to different content: articles, blog posts, book projects, etc.
• Print out – Oh yeah! You can print out whatever section of your list that you want. This is handy for when you’re working offline, but still want to see what to do next or what’s on the grocery list.

I have some wishes about working with Workflowy. I wish I could link certain tasks to my iCal calendar with a deadline. That would be uber cool!

Nevertheless, it’s helping me keep things straight, free my thoughts and somewhat focus my work.

Video Tutorials

Oh, here are some videos for you to check Workflowy out. Even though I could create a video, these guys already did. Workflowy has several short get-up-to-speed-quickly videos that help. And Simple Life Habits has this video below:

I hope you enjoy Workflowy and being more focused. If you have more ideas let us know in the comments.

Do you ever get frustrated with the inability to focus on all your work? Are you a list Maker? How can Workflowy help you maintain focus to finish?

This post follows up On Productivity: 101 Reasons to NOT Get Things Done and 6 Tips to Get More Done System. I’m constantly trying to get better.

*Picture by David Castillo Dominici/FreeDigitalPhotos.net