Making a Super-effective To Do list

One of the things that absolutely sold me on my Palm pilot (vs paper
solutions) was the way it keeps todo lists, with things disappearing off
the list with a satisfying strikethrough. It makes it possible to keep
ongoing todo lists, that you never lose and just continually update. So
that's the first thing, but here are some other helpful practices I've
figured out over the years to make it work.

First, to have multiple todo lists, organized by location/ability to carry
them out. The idea being you can look at the list and see only things you
can take action on right here and now. So, using task categories, I have
one for home and one for office, and one for internet, that is, things I
can do anywhere I have a net connection (so also home or office). Then I
have one for Call - you wouldn't believe how effective it is to go down a
list calling all the numbers on there one after the other, like when
you're walking someplace, especially if you store the number as part of
the todo. Others are Downtown, Groceries, Library, and Anywhere, which is
great for those things that I just need to brainstorm or figure out with a
pen and paper, for instance during a boring lecture.

I also just last week figured out a really good way to use the priority
system that Palm has built in. Basically I divide todo items by urgency
and importance. It goes

1: Needs to be done today or tomorrow. Really urgent!
2: Should be done within the next few days, somewhat time sensitive.
3: Important to my work or to the smooth running of my life, should get
done within a week or two
4: Not important to get done, but fun or interesting, or may pay off way
down the line. Like a website someone sent me to check out.

Especially having that 1 category has helped with not doing the thing that
causes anxiety, which is storing important tasks in your head. I come into
the office and check my Palm first thing to see if there are any 1 items
that I have to tackle the second I sit down.

I haven't found a use for the due date feature - it doesn't really apply
to the way I think about todo items.

Finally, the most important thing to keep them working and not gummed up
is to frequently review all the todo lists, checking off things you've
done and things you no longer intend to do, and trying to do something
with the items that just stay on the list forever. They might need
to be changed into simpler, more concrete tasks, or - and this happens to
me a lot - it's not really a todo item, in the sense of a concrete,
physical task, but rather a project, that will take multiple steps, and
should go on the project list instead.