To-do list trickledown: How to stay organized and keep your team on track

You’ve settled into your workspace, a steaming cup of coffee in hand, ready to dive into the strategic plan your boss eagerly awaits. But just as you begin – Ping. A Slack message from your finance partner: “Don’t forget to send budget requests by EOD.” You barely process this before – Ping. An email from your dentist’s office reminding you to schedule your biannual cleaning. You take a breath, but – Ping. Workday lets you know your direct report’s timesheet is ready for approval. In mere moments, your focus time spirals into chaos, your to-do list expanding with relentless urgency. 

This barrage of notifications is more than just a minor inconvenience; it’s a plague on productivity. Just as we cross a to-do off our list, another one pops up. It’s no wonder that two-thirds of employees end their day with unresolved tasks on their to-do lists. 

So, how are we supposed to manage to-dos flying at us from every direction? Which ones do we swat away and which do we prioritize? And, how are the people who seem to stay on top of it all doing it!?

We set out to find answers to these questions by conducting a survey of 6,000 knowledge workers across six countries about their to-do list practices. Let’s dig into what we learned.

State of the to-do list

Being organized is widely recognized as a significant advantage when it comes to managing tasks effectively. In fact, a remarkable 89% of workers believe that the most organized individuals are typically the ones who accomplish the most. Wanting to be part of this crowd, 82% of people have established a formal system to keep their to-dos organized.

However, these systems are like snowflakes – no two are exactly alike. Interestingly, over half (52%) of knowledge workers admit that their organizational methods may appear chaotic to outsiders, yet they firmly believe that these approaches work well for them.

Regardless of how different our to-do lists may look, we all share the satisfying feeling that accompanies crossing an item off the list. In fact, a striking 70% of professionals with a to-do list prefer the thrill of marking an item complete over receiving praise from a coworker.

Dueling lists: personal vs. work to-dos

We also surveyed individuals about how they organize their personal versus professional to-dos. We found nearly half (47%) of employees maintain two distinct to-do lists to track their personal and work responsibilities. In contrast, about a quarter (23%) opt to consolidate all tasks into a single to-do list, while 21% only keep a to-do list for work-related tasks, leaving personal reminders to rely solely on memory. 

We also found that people are juggling their to-dos – both personal and work – in many places: calendars, notebooks, productivity apps. 

So which is the best approach? Keep personal and work tasks separate, or together? Track tasks in one place, or several? While everyone has their own preference, our research suggests the more you use organizational systems and tools from your workplace to track all tasks, the better off you will be.

Individuals who use an organizational system they learned at work are 1.4x more likely to consider themselves organized than those who rely on a system they designed on their own. Furthermore, organized individuals are twice as likely to use tools from their workplace to organize their personal to-dos. 

The disorganization domino effect

Within a team, individual productivity is part of a highly complex and interconnected web. You may have all your ducks in a row, but a disorganized colleague can halt your (and your team’s) forward momentum. 

If you don’t consider yourself a particularly organized person, beware, as people have very little patience for their less organized coworkers. Almost 4 in 5 (78%) of respondents said they’d rather take on extra work than be forced to collaborate with a disorganized colleague. (Kind of like being the school group project member who throws their hands up and says, “fine, I’ll do it all myself.”) Furthermore, almost two-thirds of workers said they’d fire a disorganized team member if it meant improving overall results.

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise how resentful workers can be of a less-than-organized teammate. The lack of order can cause serious delays – and serious bad feelings. 

Improve personal productivity in three steps 

Tip #1: Timebox

An easy first step, we’ve found, to get a better handle of your to-dos, is to hone your ability to estimate how long a particular task is going to take. Then, set aside that time in your calendar, and do your best to protect it. 

This technique is called “timeboxing,” and it’s especially useful for people who struggle with procrastination or who often find themselves haplessly attempting to make progress on multiple projects at once, in the same short window. (Spoiler: this rarely works out. Your attention span is only so flexible.)

Timeboxing is a tried-and-true technique for keeping productivity and alignment high. In a recent experiment with Atlassians, we found that 68% made more progress when they timeboxed their calendar, and goal clarity improved for 55%. The takeaway? When you orient your day around the most important tasks you need to accomplish, you’re – by design – identifying your most important work. 

Better yet: make your calendar visible to your whole team so they can see what you’re working on, when you’re doing it, and the amount of time it’ll take for you to see it through. 

Trello now includes a Planner feature that lets you move to-dos over to your calendar right from your Trello board – and vice versa. 

Tip #2: Give your to-do list a makeover

Did you know that organized people are 1.4x more likely to delete items from their to-do list if they don’t complete them within a few days? Rather than letting tasks linger (and eventually end up on the chopping block), get in the habit of saying “no” earlier than later. And remember, if a task is neither impactful nor urgent, it may not need to be on your to-do list in the first place.With Trello, everyone can be freed from having to track down to-dos from multiple lists. All your captured to-dos land right in your Trello Inbox, where you can review, sort, and filter new to-dos and organize however you prefer.

Tip #3: Chart your daily “top to-do” – and follow it!

To-doing and timeboxing are all well and good, so long as you have a clear understanding of what you’re working toward. This is where the “top to-do” comes in. 

At the end of each workday, take a few minutes to set a top to-do for the following day, and rejigger your schedule to ensure it’s set up to enable you all the time and space you need to get it done. The top to-do should be one (just one!) high-impact task on your plate that you can’t delegate or ignore – or quietly delete from your to-do list.

Starting small is key. Accomplishing ONE big thing every day gives you strong momentum. It’s easy for deep-working, task-accomplishing time to take a backseat to meetings, pings, and returning emails. 

Real productivity means making way for real work; a top to-do is a surefire way of getting there. 

Meet your personal productivity potential

Our to-do lists are as much of a work in progress as we are. As our assignments, teams, and work styles evolve, so should the systems and tools we have in place to organize it all.

Pairing a flexible to-do list tool like Trello* with the strategies outlined in this post will set you on your way toward a more organized version of yourself. Embrace the process!

Check out our Product blog for all the nitty-gritty details on the all-new Trello!

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