Why A To Do List Will Not Make You Productive

A friend of mine recently said to me, “If I could just make to do lists like you, I would be so productive.” I laughed at first, thinking she was joking, but it became apparent that she really believed that all there was to being organized was to make a list every day.

There Are No Magic Bullets

There is no magic bullet for organization or productivity; no one thing that a person can do to make it all happen. Just like other issues that confront us all, we must take concrete action to make the end result. If all it took to lose weight were to read a book, we would all be thin. If all it took to be organized were making lists, everyone would do it.

But the truth is that a to do list is simply a tool that we use to keep ourselves focused on getting things done. We have a list so that we don’t have to spend energy and focus remembering things. The to do list is one of many tools that we use to make ourselves productive. The key is using the list to spur us into action.

And as most of you know from reading this blog, I have many problems with actually getting the things on the to-do lists done!

Photo by Old Shoe Woman