Turn Your To-do List Into Data to Maximize Your Productivity

You know that it’s important to prioritize your to-do list and you may have tried different methods to achieve this, from Eisenhower Matrix (to determine the appropriateness and urgency of each task), Pareto principle (to decide how to allocate your time to maximize your results). The problem is that determining what actually constitutes a priority can be an abstract problem. Some people perform best when dealing with cold, hard numbers, and there is a way to take a more quantitative approach to prioritizing your tasks.

Why prioritize your to-do list?

The Pareto principle, mentioned above, suggests that 80% of your results will come from 20% of your work, so you need to be picky about what you focus on. Additionally, you can only do so many things in a day, so the best to-do list for you may be a narrow list, for example, with room for one major activity, three medium-sized activities, and five small ones (known as a list 1-3-5). If you try to do Also a lot, your productivity may take a hit. (It is Illich’s lawbaby.)

To avoid doing too much or working on the wrong things, you need a strategy, and to strategize, you need to do some planning. The Eisenhower Matrix can be useful in determining which tasks have looming deadlines, but it is a subjective tool. Assigning numbers to your tasks can make everything seem more data-driven.

How to turn your to-do list into data

I came across this trick in a blog post by consultant and strategist Daniel Coulton Shaw, who explains how to number your tasks so that they align with the Pareto principle.

First, write down everything you need to do in the foreseeable future, just as you would in the beginning stages of making a 1-3-5 list. Next, assign each task two numbers, both between 1 and 10. The first number is the effort required and the second is the impact of the project.

For example, responding to all your emails might get a 3 for effort, but might get results in 7 territory. Completing a report on a meeting might be an effort 6, but a score of 2. Picking up medications from the pharmacy might be an effort of 2, or a 7, depending on how difficult it is to get there, but an effort of 4, or even a 10, depending on the importance of the prescription.

This part is also subjective, to some extent, but even thinking about your tasks in terms of “efforts” and “results” will help you grasp the seriousness of them – and we’re not done yet. Next, divide each task’s “results” number by its “effort” number. So if responding to emails is a 7 on the results scale and a 3 on effort, you get an overall score of 2.33. Once all your tasks have been rated, you can sort them in ascending order and aim to complete them. In this order, unless something more opportune happens. By doing this, you will eliminate tasks that are important but require little effort, which should be 20% of the work that accounts for 80% of your results.

What to keep in mind

Something that is an effort of 6 and results of 2 might not be at the top of your list, but might become more urgent over time. Remember to think about speed when plotting. If you have a test in four weeks, obviously the effort and results will be high and you will want to study, but give yourself the wiggle room to remember that you have a whole month, so other less urgent tasks might have to come first. Cleaning your room can take a lot of effort and little results when it’s just a little disorganized, but leaving it too long will make it more effort and force him to give in more results, which will waste time when you should be doing something other than the list. So yes, data is important, but there are other human elements you need to consider.

Finally, don’t forget about breaks. When you see everything in such a structured and urgent way, it might tempt you to throw yourself into a whirlwind. This is great and will help you better align with the Yerkes-Dodson Act, which states that you need a little stress to be more productive, but it can lead to burnout. Write breakdowns on this initial list and assign them a high value in terms of results, because taking breaks will give results. Failing to do so can set you back, making the whole exercise pointless.