We've all been there. The day starts with a ton of positive energy and good intentions. I will have a day like none-other. I will conquer my todo list.

And then the day ends and you've still got things left on your list.

Not a good feeling but one we can all relate to.

There are probably two reasons why we go through this hamster-wheel process over and over again:
1. We are so eager to get things out of our head and onto a list.
2. We don't think in a block of a week and instead live day to day.

The first cause is actually pretty good. After all, it IS good to get things out of your brain and onto paper or into a trusted system.

The second cause is where most of us fall short. I can fall into the temptation to think of my work as five distinct days all strung together. That's where I go off the track. What's better is to think of your workweek as one whole unit.

Thinking along this line then impacts your todo list. Let me show you what I mean:

Let's say you do your Weekly Review on Sunday night. You have around 10-15 things that absolutely have to be accomplished by Friday. You could:

a. park everything on your Monday list.

or, better to go with another option

b. distribute your todo items throughout the week.

By doing this, you'll keep each day's list manageable and you won't feel like a loser. I suggest putting no more than 3-5 items on your list each day. This may sound like a small list but if you add in all of the meetings, interruptions, and other things in the day, getting 3-5 high-value things done is actually pretty good.

Download The Free Daily Planning Sheet

This is the planning page we suggest using every day.

Add that up, day after day and you'll have accomplished the following:

3 high-value tasks x 5 days per week: 15 tasks
15 weekly tasks x 4 weeks in a month: 60 high-value tasks

That's awesome productivity and an easy way to "shrink" your todo list and still manage to get a lot of things done.