Apply Marie Kondo’s Method to Your to-Do Lists
Despite how much energy you put into creating the perfect to-do list and being productive, you also need to prioritize downtime and joy . You can schedule breaks using the Pomodoro technique and prioritize your tasks based on how long they will take and how much results they will produce, but guess what? Some of these tasks can simply be eliminated, not based on data, calculations, or how much you can accomplish in the time allotted, but on the basis that you simply don’t want to do them. Hear me out: you should try making KonMari your to-do list.
How does KonMari apply to to-do lists?
Everyone knows about organizational guru Marie Kondo, whether it’s from her books or her popular show about “getting organized” in your living space, but her KonMari methodology can be adapted and applied to other areas of your life. She even has a book on how to declutter your workspace, but we need to think bigger. You should get your work in order, period.
Essentially, Kondo’s cleaning tips encourage you to throw away all the items that “don’t spark joy.” Why limit this thinking to physical disorder? Your to-do list is also cluttered with unnecessary and impossible tasks.
How to KonMari Make a To-Do List
To apply this organizational method to your responsibilities and tasks, check out Kondo’s six core principles:
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Imagine your ideal home and lifestyle
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Dedicate yourself to complete cleaning
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Let go and organize
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Organize by category
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Follow the correct order
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Keep only what brings you joy
Start by writing down everything you need to do. Leave no task or responsibility behind. Now take the first step: imagine your ideal lifestyle, or in this case, workday. What would you do and focus on on your ideal day? It probably won’t be menial work, other people’s responsibilities, or things outside the scope of your job; This will likely include your main responsibilities and interests. Then commit to completely decluttering or eliminating tasks that are getting in the way of your ideal workday. The third step is to let go and then move on to organization. Evaluate your comprehensive to-do list. Do you see anything that could be eliminated entirely, such as a wasted call or a task that could be done by someone else in your organization? You have already made a commitment to clean up the mess. Now all you have to do is cross them out, either forget about them completely, or delegate them to someone more suitable.
Now you are left with tasks and functions that are more consistent with the scope of your job description and what you are interested in doing. Classify them. The categories won’t be as clear as when you use KonMari for cleaning, where you sort your items by clothes, books, papers, etc. Instead, they will be subjective, related to your daily activities. Try sorting data by job function, such as sales, communications, data collection and analysis. Or try sorting by office, home, and personal tasks. Whatever your to-do list is, you should see patterns that will allow you to categorize the things you need to do. Once you have them all sorted, rank them by importance. Perhaps work tasks are more important than home tasks, which are more important than personal ones. Sales may be more important than data collection, but you need data to communicate effectively with your team or clients, so you’ll put these categories in that order. Tackle each category in order, working through the most important things first before moving on to the less important ones.
This is how you will eventually overcome step six, which is maintaining what “sparks joy.” When you use the KonMari method to cleanse, you don’t focus on what you want to get rid of; you focus on what you really want to keep. By doing this with your to-do list, you make room for the most important tasks while keeping the less important and joy-inducing items on the list. Make sure to schedule time for fulfilling activities because the point is, you have to make time for happiness. Breaks are essential to productivity , but even doing chores—like grabbing coffee with a friend or helping your child with homework—can be productive and spark joy. By clearing the truly unnecessary junk from your to-do list, you’ll have time for everything.