3 Ways to Make Your To-Do List Less Overwhelming When Working At Home

Working from home instead of driving to an office everyday can reduce stress in a number of ways, but it can also leave you feeling overwhelmed with both home and work responsibilities since there aren’t any real boundaries (for instance, trying to be professional during an exam review webinar while sitting in a messy house, with unsorted mail, a pile of your kid’s stuffed animals at your feet, etc., can make anyone feel like they’re not really bringing their ‘A’ game).

So, for me, instead of feeling like I can’t keep track of what needs to get done, or like I need to keep a massive to-do list for both household/life and work tasks (which sounds incredibly stressful just thinking about), I’ve come up with a few alternatives that keep my to-do list shorter and make things feel much more manageable.

• Create a physical reminder of what you need to do, rather than a written reminder.

Basically, instead of trying to remember (or writing a reminder) to write that student recommendation letter or do your laundry, make that task something that physically stands out from the norm, and it’ll not only help you remember to take care of it, but it will also make it easier to tackle.

Here’s what I mean:

My husband has always used this trick, and it used to drive me crazy, but over the years I’ve learned how valuable it can be. For instance, if my husband needs to take cookies to work for someone’s birthday, he’ll put them on the floor in front of the garage door so they’re physically in his way when he tries to leave for work the next morning. I used to think this was the lazy way to remember something, but now I think it’s brilliant, and I probably use this tactic way more than he does.

For instance, just the other day I put a student’s printed out resume (I didn’t need to print it- I just wanted to make it something ‘physical’ that could take up space, as I mentioned earlier) on top of the planner that I reference throughout the day. Not only did this remind me to take care of the task, but it just didn’t make sense to throw away the student documents or file them somewhere when I could just as easily get the task done that very moment, so 99% of the time I end up doing what I need to get done to simply clear to-do items from my desk.

• Use time blocking or block scheduling.

Even if you’re sitting in your home office surrounded by toys, peering out at the high chair that still needs to be wiped down, with an unopened Amazon package in the corner of the room (this is the current view from my home office, by the way), resist the temptation to take a break from emails or grading to go take care of these chores. For me personally, if I move between home and office responsibilities too often (like every 30 minutes), it makes my head spin because it feels like I’m doing too much at once, my focus is split, and I end up feeling like I’m not doing the best job at work or household responsibilities.

Instead, I use time blocking or block scheduling to manage my to-do lists and my time. I’ve been using both time blocking and block scheduling for about a year (before I realized there was a name for these techniques) because it helps me think about and set aside time for important things throughout the week in one-hour or so blocks, and I’m able to make it manageable for myself (for instance, most of the time I spread out work responsibilities evenly throughout the week so that I know I have 5 hours of work each day- unless I plan to cut a workday short, in which case I redistribute that time somewhere else during the week). So that’s time blocking.

For block scheduling, essentially you have different 2-3 hour periods blocked off during your day for different activities and only those activities (which helps you stay focused). If you’re like me and you can see your messy kitchen table from where you’re currently sitting in your home office, resist the urge to switch gears, stick to the project at hand for however long you had planned to work at that activity, and then take care of household responsibilities during specific time that is set aside for that. That way, when you know you’ve committed 3 hours to finishing that work project (or grading papers, like me), you can fully concentrate on it without feeling distracted, and knowing that you already have time set aside for the other stuff.

• Delegate it, reduce it, or don’t do it.

There are some things you might be used to doing weekly or monthly, but reconsider if they need to happen with that frequency.

During a particularly busy season of life, maybe your spouse can start picking up the groceries each week (I haven’t done a real grocery shopping trip in 2 years because it made more sense to delegate it), or perhaps it’s a better use of time to check your work emails in the morning instead of in the morning and evening, or you realize you actually only need to cook family meals every other day instead of every day, or you decide to start committing to only half the social engagements you normally would.

Look at your to-do list items with this ‘delegate, reduce, or don’t do’ mentality (and yes, I just came up with that :)) in mind and see if you can cut down your list of responsibilities in a way that works much better.

 

I hope that helps all you busy remote workers/house managers/parents out there! I know the above has certainly made a difference for me in the last year or so.

Happy working, living, and learning!