3. Create a To-Do List for Each Week or Each Day

Don't use the same list for each day; it might end up looking like a mess of mixed things (done, undone, unimportant, critical etc). Create a fresh list each day so that visually also, you get a feeling of starting with a clean slate. It can have tasks undone from previous day but writing them on...

A smaller to-do list is less intimidating and more achievable. There's nothing wrong with having a short to-do list if you're getting real work done. Start with your Most Important Tasks (MITs) and limit the list to three items, a productivity tactic popularized by bloggerLeo Babauta .

Choose a few (usually 3) tasks to get done each day; those become your MITs.

When using MITs, your to-do list would have 1-3 of these, and anything else listed would become bonus, "nice to do if you have the time" tasks. You only work on bonus tasks if all your MITs are don...