We like lists, don’t we? They help us remember what to do, when, and in what order. They help us do our work, buy our groceries, and remember who was naughty and who was nice.
As you sit down to plan the upcoming year, you might want to add a few more lists to your collection. Here are some examples, along with what you might include on each list:
- Daily: Outgoing phone calls, exercise, vitamins, writing in your journal, 15 minutes for marketing, personal development, reading, tidy up desktop
- Weekly: Weekly review, staff meeting, writing your newsletter, paying bills
- Monthly: Planning, review accounting ledgers, review goals, meetings, review advertising
- Quarterly: Board meeting(s), pay estimated taxes, update software, remind clients to conduct board meeting
- Yearly: Year-end review, goal setting, planning, sending docs to CPA, physical checkup, Christmas cards, remind clients to review leases
You’ll want to have sub-lists for many of these. For example, a checklist for your weekly review.
If you’re really into lists, you might also consider a list for every morning, every evening, every weekday, or every Saturday.
Put the date and time of the activities on your lists on your calendar. I suggest you maintain the actual lists elsewhere, however, to make it easier to review and update them.
I also suggest you create a “list of lists”. If you keep your lists in Evernote, for example, create a “Table of Contents” note with links to each of your lists. Drag that master list to your “favorites” in the left sidebar for quick access.
