I recently dug up and refreshed a to-do list I had created in Excel, because from September to December of last year, it worked so well for me use a spreadsheet to keep track of big and small projects. When I first opened the file and looked it over, it was one very long list, with lots of stuff checked off and almost as much stuff still not checked off. I found it overwhelming to look at and darn near closed it up right then and there! I know I could have removed the rows with the checked off stuff, but I like to see that I’ve accomplished things, so that wasn’t the answer. I know it sounds dumb, but it works for me.

I decided to break the tasks into categories as tabbed sections, since I had roughly organized them this way they developed last fall. What better way to keep each list separate and more manageable, yet still together in one Excel file. I find that I like seeing the main categories on the tabs and viewing just one tab at a time, but with the others just a click away. It’s so much easier to focus on the tasks listed there and know how far along I’m coming on a big project. Just for the record– I’ve tried to organize my tasks in Microsoft’s Outlook by assigning them to categories, but every so often, my computer hiccups and rearranges my task list. Then I waste time trying to reconstruct the view so I can figure out where I left off.

I guess the thing I like about the spreadsheet method for my to-do list is that it doesn’t have annoying reminders. If I use Outlook and try to set deadlines on too many tasks, they seem to pop up at inopportune times and I end up ignoring the reminders. It’s too hard to predict that at 8 am the next day, I will definitely be doing a particular task, which will then be followed by an additional task with another reminder. If I can’t do a task as it was originally scheduled, I know I can move the reminder to another time or day, but then I’m just putting it off, sometimes indefinitely. I’m very good at procrastinating on my own, so I don’t need help from any software.

I do try to use reminders sparingly, though, so I won’t forget to do really important things, like attend meetings or do something by a specific date. I find that I tend to pay more attention to those types of reminders and never ignore them or put them off. It’s a rare occasion that I miss a meeting or turn in paperwork late when I set a reminder for it. For everything else, the spreadsheet gives me much more flexibility to work my tasks into my schedule, rather than schedule tasks into my workday.