05 Jun The MAGIC of Reorganizing your TO DO LIST!
We all know we should occasionally organize our closets, and kitchens, and paper piles, but have you ever considered giving your To-Do or Task List a thorough reorganization? The results can be just as transformational.
Before becoming a Productivity Coach, I spent years as a Professional Organizer, helping clients clear physical clutter. I discovered that truly lasting results come from a deliberate, step-by-step process:
- Remove EVERYTHING from the space (or section).
- Make intentional decisions about what to do with each item. Organizing expert Judith Kolberg introduced the concept of sorting items into three categories: friends, strangers, and acquaintances.
- Friends go BACK into the space
- Strangers are donated, recycled, or discarded
- Acquaintances go into a holding zone (storage — just in case) or are returned if there’s room
Making intentional choices about every single item—and being VERY purposeful about what occupies your valuable space—is genuinely MAGICAL. I can tell you if I go to organize my junk drawer (or any space) and open the drawer and ask myself – is there anything here that should go, I get an average result that lasts a few weeks or months. However, if I remove everything – and deliberately return the things-that-really-matter, my organization lasts a good year or more. Try it – it’s amazing how effective it is!
But do we do this with our To DO Lists? It’s tempting to stick with our usual weekly reviews, but just as our physical spaces benefit from an annual deep re-org, your digital or paper task list deserves the same attention. I recently did a full Task List overhaul myself, and here’s how I did it:
- I keep my Task List on a Google Sheet (as discussed here.)
- I made a backup copy, just in case.
- I added a new column and transferred EVERYTHING from my Critical/Hot/Sooner/Later/Waiting lists into that column.
- Then, I sorted and redistributed each item back into the appropriate category.
- I also cleaned up my sub-lists—professional development, major purchases, blog ideas, tech tools, tasks in progress with my VA—and deleted many obsolete or unnecessary items.
The result? A clean, focused, manageable list that clearly highlights what’s most important. Removing clutter is not just liberating—it drastically reduces stress and increases clarity.
A few key insights:
- Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Does that task advance your goals or support someone important? If not, is it worth your precious time?
- When everything feels urgent or important, nothing truly is. Time is finite—every “yes” to the unimportant takes away from what truly matters.
- As Brené Brown reminds us, feeling resentment often signals that a task should come off your list.
- Remember: what was a priority last week or last month may no longer be relevant today. Priorities shift, and highly productive people are ruthless about removing unnecessary tasks.
So, what will you REMOVE today?