Are you one of those people who’s always looking for ways to boost your productivity? Do you have paper lists everywhere in an attempt to organize your work? Have you tried every organizational method out there and found that none of them help you stay focused?
If this sounds like your struggle then a note-taking app might be exactly what you need. Read on to find out how you can manage your time and tasks more efficiently and how the right note-taking app can help.
How Writing Things Down Helps Productivity #
The impulse to write things down as an organization method is strong, and there are very good reasons for that.
Writing down everything you have to do and notes about those tasks gets all of that information out of your brain, which helps relieve the anxiety that comes with having lots to do. Writing makes you feel more in control of the work and the information.
Writing also allows you to see everything in one place. This allows your brain to process it differently, which can help you figure out how to tackle the work effectively.
And writing things down helps you remember. Several studies have shown that information retention increases when we write things down.
So, when you’re looking to get things done and organize but you don’t know where to start, writing a to-do list is a great place to start.
Writing an Effective To-Do List #
What makes a to-do list effective?
- Specificity: Don’t write a vague task like “Call Vince.” Add some details that help you remember what the task is about.
- KISS: Keep It Short and Simple! Keep your daily to-do list short – ten tasks maximum. Keep your daily to-do lists to tasks you can actually accomplish today.
- Prioritize: What actually needs to be done first? What can wait? Be brutally honest so you can pare down your list to follow the KISS method.
- Have multiple to-do lists, but tackle them one at a time: Have a daily to-do list, a weekly to-do list, and a project to-do list. Move tasks between them as the project develops and you finish tasks.
Having an effective to-do list makes the difference between having a plan to move forward and floundering from one thing to the next.
Organizing Your To-Dos and Your Time With the Pomodoro Technique #
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management tool that allows you to work through your to-dos in a way that boosts efficiency and productivity.
The Pomodoro Technique suggests working on each task for a short period – a half-hour or an hour – and then taking a 5-10 minute break. When you come back from the break you resume the task or move onto a new one. Every three hours, you take an extended 15-20 minute break.
The idea behind this is when we work for too long on one task fatigue and frustration set in and our productivity and efficiency decrease. By working in sprints and taking breaks, we can hyper-focus on the task at hand, leave it behind, and come back or start something new with fresh eyes.
Break down the tasks on your daily to-do list into half-hour or hour-long tasks, so they can be done in line with the Pomodoro Technique.
How a Note-Taking App Helps #
To-do lists and pen and paper have always gone together. But there are downsides to writing your to-do list in a notebook, on sticky notes, or in a planner.
The main downside is that you can lose or leave these things behind. Sticky notes get accidentally thrown away or fall off your desk. Notebooks and planners get left at home or the office.
The one thing you always have on you is your phone, which is why a note-taking app is the ultimate way to manage your to-do list. It’s always handy, so you can pull it up as soon as you think of something.
In an app like Elisi, you can organize your to-dos in a planner that allows you to see your daily to-do list and your weekly to-dos all in one place, organized by day. This app also has a separate section for notes. So, if you think of something related to your to-dos or you have new information, you can quickly pull up the app and take down notes for later.
Having an organizational tool always accessible means you’ll always be able to see what needs to be done and write down anything else that pops up.
More Tips for Boosting Productivity #
Staying organized can be difficult, especially when you’re overwhelmed by the amount of work you need to get done. Getting everything you need to do written down and organizing it into an effective to-do list helps you feel in control of your work and gives you a path to accomplishing it efficiently.
Using a note-taking app to assist you in organizing all your information and your to-do lists means that you’ll always have the information you need right at your fingertips.
For more tips on how to boost your productivity, check out our blog.
