Embracing the power of the to-do list

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Journalists and content creators have a lot to do.

Excuse us while we track down sources, mine Twitter and blogs for story ideas and attend editorial meetings and brainstorming sessions. Oh, and of course, I’m forgetting the distractions that pop up and the fires we have to extinguish every day. That being said, how do we keep track of the important tasks that need to get done, especially in a new media world where the responsibilities continue to stack up?

For me, it use to be an enormous amount of sticky notes, pasted around my computer screen. Thanks to technology – that’s changed.

Google Calendar: Steve and I have started using this tool for the very blog you’re reading now. It reminded me to write this post, but I wouldn’t have forgotten. Swear.

Benefits: Accessible from anywhere, sharable, able to be synced to many devices, email reminders.

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Remember the Milk: I wrote a quick post on this tool on my personal blog. It’s another free service that allows you to create and categorize to-do lists in various ways. The crew at Remember the Milk has a premium version that gives you access to mobile apps for the iPhone and Android, support, plus other features.

Benefits: Fun-to-use interface, smart lists, unlimited lists and email reminders.

Why time management is crucial for content creation

  1. If you’re not wasting time on the small stuff, you can concentrate on the big stuff.
  2. You’ll have more time to write, photograph, code websites and create cool stuff.
  3. You won’t forget things and tick off co-workers, sources and other people you rely on for help in creating your content.
  4. The most important part of creating engaging, sticky content just might be planning. And with these tools, you’ll be on your way.

This is what has worked for me. What do you use to manage your to-do lists or projects?

Posted on Thursday, Oct 14, 2010 by