Between all the digital distractions of the internet, cell phones, and other technology the businesses today are taking a different shape. Projects are getting humongous and are changing at a much faster pace amidst the present competition. The pressure of workload associated with the success of the organization is larger than ever. Even the simple tasks today require a great deal of attention and multi-dimensional plans.
This is where the To-Do list comes to the rescue. The idea of breaking down mammoth tasks into smaller chunks that are easier to handle goes a long way. It relieves the stress as you can see your distant goals in small and achievable fragments. It also makes it simpler to verify the completion of each step. It also helps in tracking down the problems in each step. With time it helps in accomplishing large scale projects and achieve remarkable results.
Let’s see how you can use to-do list and break huge tasks into smaller chunks:
Set Goals
The first step before breaking down any task it is important to have an overarching goal established. Those goals should be in line with a smaller task. Although no task can be absolutely perfect it provides guidelines for tackling the task. Also, it provides a clear cut vision and direction on every step of the process. Having a distinct and clear vision helps in a long way, it increases the quality and keeps you motivated because you know in your head that whatever you are doing is adding towards a larger set goal.
Identify hurdles
Figuring out the obstacles that can potentially fall on the path, is also an important part of the process. Make sure that you clearly document every obstacle associated with each task.
Preempting the obstacles directly influence the structure of your to-do list. Your to-do list will not be half as effective if you don’t account for them. For instance, if you are working on a writing project, in order for you to create a to-do list, you will have to preempt the potential hurdles. One possibility is, that information you are reading is not right and providing wrong facts. Second could be, possible grammatical errors to be made. Now that you have seen these two as potential obstacles, you naturally will add “thorough proofreading” and “verify the sources of information” to the to-do list.
Make a to do list
Crafting the steps is an extremely important part of the process. You have to ensure that the steps that you are adding help you in accomplishing the desired set result. A lot of times even a remarkable hard work does not fetch the right result if the steps followed were not crafted with utmost care. It is like setting the route of the ship before it starts to sail. Even if all the care in the world was taken to follow the route and navigate the sea, if the checklist itself is “off”, the final task results will also be off.
Plan it first
You can not imagine doing a large project in one go or without paying due diligence in planning and brainstorming. You may start by figuring out steps that can help in initiating the projects. Again for example, if you have a writing project, plan it. Write separate sections, edit, format, proofread. Then connect each section into one whole in a way that it makes sense and is in a flow of logic.
Use benchmarks
Use your ultimate set goal as a benchmark for all the tasks on the to-do list. Try to make each of the steps as small as possible and continuously have a check on everything you do. The reason for keeping them small is to be able to revise them if need be.
Revise
The planning and identifying hurdles don’t end at any point. You have to look for continuously updating the crafted to-do list as and when the need arises. Know for a fact that the list can be edited and new steps can be added for the same reason. Do not hesitate to update the list in case of any adversity while the course of completion, as it will be much more difficult to redo the entire task if you do it after the completion.
