I love checking off my to-do list! I always have a ton of networking events that I need to attend each week so I have very little time to get things done. My to-do lists are so important! This may not work for everyone but here are the three to-do lists that I recommend that you keep if you want to get more done.

1) Master List

This is for everything that you need to get done over the next six months to one year. These are broad actions and include big picture goals. Every time you think of something you want to do, you just add it to your master list. Just make sure to review and update it once a month or so.

2) Weekly Priority List

This is the list your make every week (preferably Sunday evening) before the week starts and is broken into the three categories of sacred, administrative, and focus time. What are you going to do this week, what are you going to delegate, and what personal items you must get done.

I find think it important to make time for family and personal goals as well as business goals. Otherwise, these items tend to get pushed to the back burner.

3) Daily Priority List

Every morning (or if you are really good the night before) I want you to list out everything you want to do and then put a star next to everything that absolutely MUST get done that day. You should have only one to three items that are absolute priorities. Get started on those first! Focusing only on one to three items per day is one of the keys to being more productive. Instead of getting overwhelmed with details, I focus on the first priority and I don’t move on to the second until I finish.

Do you keep a to-do list? I’d love to hear about your tricks to working more effectively in the comments.