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Reverse To Do List

When I have a big task to do, I drop it in my bullet journal, which means I never lose any item that needs to get done because it’s all there in black and white.  But I also keep a day-to-day list that runs from Friday to Thursday where I drop smaller segments of larger tasks into each day to prioritize what needs to get done.  I do this on a separate sheet of paper, crossing off each item, and then putting a diagonal slash across the square when all items are finished for that day.  It is huge satisfying.

But I realized three weeks ago that I was dumping these sheets of paper at the end of the week.  So I had no record of what I do on a daily basis.  Which sort of sucks, especially when you’re trying to remember how long it takes you to do X, Y, or Z.

I was thinking about getting a paper calendar so everything would be in one place, but only filling it in for Friday to Thursday, week by week.  But that becomes one more thing I have to carry around.  A piece of paper tucked into my bullet journal is easy.  An extra book is hard.

I’m still debating what to do, but I really love this idea of keeping a reverse to-do list:

As I cross things off the task list, I add them to the reverse list. And when something inevitably comes up that wasn’t part of the plan for that day—say, a co-worker with a quick favor, or a tidying task that kept you busy for a bit—you add it to the reverse list, too.  What you’re left with at the end of the day is quite the opposite of a to-do list… it’s a “DONE!” list.

That would be really motivating.  It would also make things like updating your resume a lot easier because you’d have a record of tasks you’ve done.

Passing it along in case you’re looking for a new system, too.

4 comments

1 noemi { 10.14.18 at 11:13 am }

Maybe just keep a binder and put the papers in them everyday when you’re done? And you can add the extraneous stuff that popped up that you also did, like in the reverse to-do list article you linked to, onto the page before you file it in the binder. Then you don’t have to change your system, except for the final step. You could even get Jan-Dec tabs and keep the pages organized by month.

2 Jess { 10.15.18 at 8:44 pm }

I love Google Keep for that reason… If you make a list, as you check things off they don’t disappear, they go to the checked DONE list at the bottom. I like the idea of a paper version though. I usually just make to do lists and then look back on what’s done from the same list.

3 DEB S { 10.15.18 at 11:11 pm }

You could just add a reverse task list to your daily spread or start a section for daily tasks that keeps rolling forward if you don’t get them done. I’m still learning the bullet/dot journaling but what I do know is that it has to work for you. The one option I really like but haven’t tried is using post it’s for flexible tasks, list, or meal planning so that you can either reuse the spread just by swapping the post it’s or you can plan and then transfer what actually was completed from the post it to that slot and roll the rest forward on to the next day/slot.

4 a { 10.16.18 at 6:24 pm }

OMG – WHY????

I truly do not understand your organizational obsession, but I recognize that it might be necessary for a freelance writer. But…keeping a record of all the tasks you’ve completed? That’s beyond me.

(c) 2006 Melissa S. Ford
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