Weekly Course on Time Management – Week 8 – Using Technology to Create To-Do-Lists

Earlier in your lessons on Smart Time Management, I discussed the importance of planning ahead. Having a proper plan for your day is not possible unless you create a to-do list. A to-do list is a simple checklist that allows you to list down all the tasks that you must complete within the day. It is a list of all the work that must be done.

Quite often, I come across instances where I find mothers ruffling through loose sheets of paper in order to find their to-do lists for the day. And most of the time, it is the very paper that their child is drawing a picture on.

Keeping a diary for your to-do lists is good because it is more organized and efficient as compared to loose sheets of paper, but when you use technology for creating to-do lists, you become more efficient. You receive constant notifications, it organizes itself, and making edits or deleting things becomes a lot easier as compared to making messy notes or tearing off papers from your diary.

When you let technology do the obvious and the mundane, you create more time for yourself to focus on tasks and things that actually matter. Hence, you begin to manage your time more effectively.

There are several tools, applications, and software that allow you to create digital to-do lists and organize them in a manner that best fits your style.

Making To-Do-Lists On Smartphones

Making to-do lists on smartphones is a great way to keep a tab on your work. Smartphones are rapidly becoming an essential part of our daily lives. In fact, some people would say that they feel quite lost without their smartphones as their work lives and personal lives are saved and stored in this small, little device.

Just think about it. Your contacts, your emails, your chats, and your photographs are all saved on this device. You use it to set your alarm, check the weather, read the news, communicate with colleagues, friends, and family, and even make important financial transactions. So, why not use it to create to-do lists?

I would recommend trying Tick Tick for creating to-do lists on smartphones.

Tick Tick Integrations

It is a free application for smartphones that specifically targets students and educators for planning their work and creating to-do lists. It is available for both Android users as well as iPhone users. You can easily add tasks and sort them by date, thanks to its smart date recognition feature.

Its voice input feature allows you to add and organize your tasks on the go. Just press and hold the microphone icon, record your message and release to add the task to your to-do list.

You can include due dates and time information to ensure that you never miss a deadline. The application will send you reminders when you are about to approach the deadline.

You can organize your tasks and planning into lists and folders. In case you make a mistake, you can easily drag the list out of the wrong folder and add it to the correct or new folder. It also allows you to check the boxes once the tasks have been completed.

The in-built calendar in the application can be used as a planner, giving you more freedom to schedule your tasks and appointments in advance.

The Promo timer feature that has been inspired by the Pomodoro Technique ensures that you stay focused and productive.

But the real reason why I personally love using Tick Tick is its list-sharing feature. You can now share your to-do list with anyone in your contacts and inform them about your day’s planning.

So, whether it is your spouse who needs a little reminder or your business partner, Tick Tick will do the work on your behalf.

Some other Android and iOS applications that facilitate you in creating digital to-do-lists are:

• Todoist
• Microsoft To-Do
• Tasks
• any.do
• Asana
• Memorigi
• 2Do
• Remember The Milk

Making To-Do-Lists On Laptop/ Desktop

Another great way to create, save, and organize your to-do lists is to use software for them on your laptop or desktop. This is very helpful for creating work-related to-do lists. You can drag and copy things from your laptop onto these software or online desktop applications and organize your files and folders.

I would recommend using Evernote for creating your to-do-lists on desktop or laptop.

Evernote

Evernote is free software that is available for both Windows as well as Mac users. It is free software that can be downloaded from the website.

The most helpful feature of Evernote is that it syncs across all devices. It allows you to create notes, upload files, share your documents with others so that they too can make changes to the notes and plans, search for a note, scan documents, connect with other applications like Gmail and Outlook so that you never miss out on an important meeting or appointment.

Summary

As a busy bee homeschool mom, you will always be short of time to keep looking at your to-do list that has been hurriedly noted down in your diary somewhere. You need tools that are intelligent, efficient, and support your busy lifestyle.

Technology makes your work easy. Using technology for creating to-do lists will allow you to organize your work and save time on filing. The timely reminders and notifications will ensure that you never miss a deadline.

You can use any Android or iOS application to create your to-do list on your smartphone or desktop software that is compatible with Mac or Windows to create notes, plans, and organize your work.

Ashley Yeo 

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