Why I love to do lists

I am one of those people who cannot function without some type of schedule. If I’m not organized, I will lay around all day marathoning shows, reading mangas, snacking on junk food, or all three. I am only productive when I’m following a list, and I like to list everything. Well, except small things like bathroom breaks.

Good old agenda

It all started in middle school. Every year our school would hand out agendas to write out our schedules and to add homework assignments. This will continue all the way through my college years

After college, I thought I would never see an agenda again. Fast forward to when I was working in accounting, I had so many different projects to take care of that I bought an agenda and started writing everything down. Marking off everything on my schedule became a game, but I quit when I stopped working in accounting.

When I started going to school again, I went from using agendas to downloading apps. While I love having a physical agenda, it’s cheaper to use apps.

(Update: I started using an agenda again, here is an affiliate link to the one I’m currently using. I love it because it’s a coloring book too!  2017 Calendar – Adult Coloring Calendar/Planner – Spiral Bound – Designer Organizer 8.5″ x 11″ Planning Calendar and Coloring Book)

My favorite apps

I use a variety of apps to keep lists. I like to use Google Keep for ideas, Any.do for my daily life, and Asana for my projects and blogs. All these apps can be used on your desktop/laptop and they are all FREE!

Google Keep

This isn’t really something  I use to keep schedules, but ideas or things I need to look up when I’m not busy. I like it because you can make a to-do list or you can just make lists in general and check off items when you are done with it.

When I was going to school, I would create different notes for different sections of my classes. The teacher would give us a lot of resources, so I would copy and paste a video or article and save it on on Google Keep. When I’m done, I archive it.

I also use it to keep track of snacks, diets, exercise, projects, project ideas, and so on.

Any.do

I use Any.do for my daily life. You can create daily tasks and then check them off as you go. You can also repeat tasks. Any.do will also show your calendar appointments along with your tasks.

I like to add homework assignments, workouts, and projects. I just check off things as I finish them or rearrange the things I am not able to do. You can make these tasks recur or move them to the next day/week.

Asana

In Asana I create projects. For example I currently have  a project called blog. I list the blogs by name, and within each blog I list tasks to complete the blog. Then I add due dates and try to finish each task before they are due. I also use this process on client projects and other projects I’m working on like free resources to add to my website.

I add these tasks to the Asana calendar, which can be synced to your google calendar, as well as your Any.do daily list.

How many of you are like me and can’t function without a to-do list? What apps or methods do you use to get things done? Let me know in the comments below.
-Natasha Lane Design Co.