How do you make a 5-step to-do list for really effective task organisation?

By Fabien Paupier & Emma Gil

Published: 14 November 2024

The to-do list is a simple and particularly effective tool for managing your to-do list. Organise, sort and prioritise your tasks... How can you make a good to-do list to put an end to procrastination, and finally cross your tasks off your list?

This article answers that question by giving you some top tips and a selection of to-do list applications to give you peace of mind. Take the time to read this article, then cross that task off your list 😉

See all software Project Management

To do list: 1 definition, 8 benefits

"To do" means "to do" in English. A to-do list is therefore a list of things to do. By extension, we associate the to-do list with minimalist task management, which is intended to be simple to implement and effective in achieving the expected results.

Making to-do lists has a number of benefits, including :

No more forgetting things to do.
Knowing where you stand in relation to your to-do list and day-to-day tasks.
Being clear about what you need to do.
Be efficient in your personal organisation.
Keep a record of what has been done so you can report on it.
Break a job or project down into smaller, more manageable tasks.
Organise yourself better as part of a team by allocating tasks.
Stop procrastinating. Procrastination is putting off until later what you can do today.
In a professional context, it is above all collective productivity and serenity that are sought.

How do you make an effective to-do list? 5 key tips

Tip 1: Break down the tasks on your list

Identify and distinguish between quick tasks and background work, and balance the workload they represent.

Sure, it's nice to cross off tasks and the feeling of accomplishment is much stronger, but you also need to spend time on the time-consuming tasks, as these are the ones that take you far and give you a long-term vision.

💡 To keep the pleasure of ticking off tasks done, break the work down into smaller tasks (crossing off = pleasure = motivation to keep going).

Tip 2: Prioritise important tasks

Define, for each day, at most one priority task, several secondary tasks and small tasks of minor importance.

Example:

Priority task: do the month's accounts;
Secondary tasks: restocking and changing prices on the website;
Small tasks: emptying the bins, watering the plants, buying post-its.

Prioritising tasks is essential. Use a simple method: position the tasks on a matrix with two axes: gain and effort. It is then recommended that you give priority to the tasks in green and put the tasks in red last:

Tip 3: Evaluate time and effort

In the Agile Scrum project management method, it's advisable to estimate how much time you're going to spend on a task. This helps you to prioritise tasks and to know what is reasonably possible to do in a day or a week.

For example, in a 7-hour working day, it is possible to do one 4-hour task and 2 1.5-hour tasks.

ℹ️ It is advisable to set aside between 10% and 20% of your day to deal with unforeseen circumstances, which also gives planned tasks a better chance of being completed.

Tip 4: Focus on achievable tasks

It's counter-productive to impose tasks on yourself that require more resources and time than you have.

Another common mistake is to put objectives on your to-do list instead of an action plan (to do = things to do, not objectives to achieve).

For example: "pass my exam" is a goal. It's better to focus on 4 achievable tasks such as: buying the book, reading the book, practising, taking a mock exam.

Tip 5: Create a pleasant, visual to-do list

Pay as much attention to the form of your to-do list as to its content: for example, colours are a good way of quickly identifying the importance or urgency of a task, or who is responsible for a task in the case of teamwork.

The Kanban board also allows you to see the progress of tasks, from their creation to their completion (from left to right).

Finally, you can group together tasks that it makes sense to do consecutively to increase productivity.

Example of a free downloadable to-do list (Excel)

Excel lets you list tasks neatly, filter them and search for a task quickly. Here's a sample to-do list in Excel format for you to download free of charge:

Please note: it is very complicated to itemise tasks without disrupting the readability of the file. Excel is suitable for small tasks, but quickly shows its limitations.

Which to-do list application should you choose? Selection of 9 task management software applications

If a paper or digital Excel to-do list is no longer enough for you, we suggest some to-do list software to manage your tasks (and much more!) collaboratively and on the move.

Asana

Advantages of Asana: the free version is sufficient for the vast majority of uses, Asana is fast, ergonomic and highly functional. Asana integrates very well with Google Calendar and Gmail and is particularly suited to teams looking for productivity, collaboration and modern project management. The paid version offers excellent centralised administration of the platform and task templates.
Disadvantages: none
Users: start-ups, freelancers, and all teams looking to improve organisation and productivity
Mobile application: yes
Origin: United States

Azendoo

Advantages of Azendoo: import of to-do lists, polls, private messages, perfect ergonomics, French editor
Disadvantages: fairly high price compared with the competition
Users: VSEs, SMEs and large companies looking for greater productivity and collaboration
Mobile application: yes
Origin: France

Beesbusy

Advantages of Beesbusy :
- very simple to-do lists ;
- a customisable Kanban view with drag and drop and filters;
- a single click to create a task;
- no settings required;
- free account creation with as many tasks, projects and users as you want.
Disadvantages: to benefit from all the features (such as planning and Gantt), you need to opt for the business package, but at an affordable, sliding-scale price.
Users: from entrepreneurs to large groups in all sectors of activity; particularly suitable for corporate support functions and project managers who want to involve diverse teams (with varying levels of project management) in collaborative projects.
Mobile application: yes
Origin: France

Google Keep, in the Google WorkSpace suite

Advantages of Google Keep: easy to use. Combines note-taking and list management. Designed for jotting down a good idea or important things on the fly. Integrates with the full Google WorkSpace suite (Chat, Calendar, Docs, Meet, etc.).
Cons: too simplistic for professional use with a large number of tasks.
Users: suitable for everyone
Mobile application: yes
Origin: United States

monday.com

Advantages of monday.com: fun, intuitive and fully customisable dashboards that let you track the progress of your tasks and projects in real time. Highly efficient task management: define milestones, priorities and statuses according to your needs. Assign tasks, set deadlines and receive automated notifications - a flexible, made-to-measure to-do list!
Disadvantages: Limited functionality for the "Basic" subscription, risk of high price for large groups.
Users: adaptable to all types of organisation (start-ups, VSEs, SMEs and large groups)
Mobile application: yes
Origin: Israel

Todoist

Advantages of Todoist: the free version is sufficient for the vast majority of uses: checklist, geolocalised notifications, synchronisation with iCal, automatic detection of structured information ("water the plants every week" will be detected as a recurring task).
Disadvantages: it's not easy to prioritise tasks
Users: start-ups, freelancers, and all teams looking to improve organisation and productivity
Mobile application: yes
Origin: United States

Trello

Advantages of Trello: the price and the highly visual Kanban board, which replaces the Gantt chart that is ill-suited to collaborative uses; the ergonomics are perfect.
Disadvantages: more suited to project management than to a to-do list.
Users: start-ups, very small businesses, creative agencies (web design, marketing, etc.)
Mobile application: yes
Origin: United States

Wimi

Advantages of Wimi: extensive functional coverage including document management, calendar, audio/video chat and project management (planning tool)
Disadvantages: oversized for to-do lists only, but excellent for team collaboration
Users: VSEs, SMEs and large groups looking for efficiency without compromising on data control
Mobile application: yes
Origin: France

Wunderlist

The advantages of Wunderlist: first and foremost the price, because the free version is very comprehensive and the paid version very competitive. What's more, the Wunderlist checklist manager has a downloadable version for all devices, even the Apple Watch!
Cons: For professional use, Wunderlist doesn't go far enough.
Users: start-ups, VSEs, freelancers
Mobile application: yes
Origin: Germany (Wunderlist was bought by the American company Microsoft)