If you’ve ever felt like your to-do list is spiralling out of control, then it might be time to try out something new. Today, we’ve got 5 ways to get on top of your tasks.

Let me know what you think, or what you’d like me to cover in future, by replying to this email! 💖 

🐸 Eat the frog.

Sounds gross – and it is! – but eating the frog is actually a really simple and effective concept:

The “frog” in this case is the toughest thing you have to do today. Getting your scariest, most daunting, and most challenging task done first means that the rest of your day is easier – and you don’t have it nagging at the back of your mind.

Variation: the frog could instead be your most important task for the day. Choose whichever is usually more stressful for you!

🟨 The one Post-It rule.

This is one of my favourite techniques for planning out my day. The idea is that you get a single Post-It that contains everything you’re committing to doing today. And write it out in a chunky pen.

The reasoning behind this one is that this forces focus. You can only cram so much on your Post-It, so you have to be selective about what goes on there. But it also gives you a better chance at actually getting everything done, since you’ve had to limit your tasks.

🗓️ Calendar batching.

If you’re a bit visual and love your calendar, then turning it into a task management ally can make a massive difference.

Block out tasks in your calendar as events so that you can quickly see how much you actually have to get done, as well as plan for when you’re going to do them. Plus, I’ve found this is actually way more effective for getting your coworkers to back off than just putting in “focus time.”

And if a task takes less than 5 minutes? Do it immediately.

🔥 The Eisenhower matrix.

An oldie but a goodie, the Eisenhower matrix is perfect if you need a visual breakdown of what you need to work on. It splits your tasks up by if they’re urgent or not, and important or not.

• Important + Urgent: Yikes, do it now!

• Important, but not Urgent: Plan for when you’re going to do this.

• Urgent, but not Important: Delegate – see if somebody can help you get this done.

  • Variation: if you actually have the time, you can do these. The idea is that you just get your Do Now box done first.

• Not Urgent + not Important: Delete it! Why are you doing this if it doesn’t matter?

🍳 The burner list.

This last one is another that is intentionally limited to help you cut the scope of what you’re trying to do in a single day.

Take a piece of paper and divide it into two columns.

Your first column is your front burner – or the most important thing you have to do today. You can only pick one project, but you can list out individual tasks underneath.

The other column gets split into two boxes. You’ve got your back burner at the top, which has your second most important project, and then underneath is the kitchen sink – every other miscellaneous thing you have to do.

When I use the Burner List technique, I usually do a list for a couple of days at a time and I’ll just start a new one when it no longer reflects my true first priority. You might find the same, or you’ll start a new one when you run out of space in one of the columns.

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