I’ve by no means had a lot luck with to-do lists. As a self-professed (and, let’s be trustworthy, not-so-recovering) perfectionist, seeing a mountain of unaccomplished duties on the finish of the day would ship me right into a spiral. My Notes app was a graveyard of forgotten duties—an ever-expanding listing that, paradoxically, solely appeared to develop. However then I discovered the Two-Listing Rule. All of a sudden, I wasn’t drowning in to-dos. I used to be truly getting issues executed.
The Two-Listing Rule has been my saving grace. It’s a technique of organizing duties into two classes: “must-do” and “nice-to-do.” This strategy helps you concentrate on the necessities, launch the guilt, and keep away from burnout—whereas nonetheless making area for pleasure. It’s a means of distinguishing between the belongings you completely have to do proper now and the duties you may get to later. The Two-Listing Rule helps you make clear your focus, prioritize successfully, and in the end carry stability to the ambition-and-rest wrestle. As a result of step one in balancing these two is figuring out what really issues.
The Drawback with Conventional To-Do Lists
All of us have rather a lot to do. Finish cease. In a world that glorifies busyness, our to-do lists have morphed into an limitless scroll—work deadlines combined with grocery runs, artistic desires buried beneath admin duties. It’s no surprise we really feel always behind.
However the issue isn’t simply the sheer variety of duties—it’s that we lump the whole lot collectively with out distinction. Work deadlines sit alongside grocery lists. Private targets, like lastly beginning that guide membership, get buried beneath physician’s appointments and tax prep. This “everything-at-once” strategy makes it unattainable to know the place to begin, so we both try and do all of it (hiya, burnout) or keep away from the listing altogether (cue guilt). And after we inevitably don’t examine off each field, we really feel like we’ve failed, even when we spent your entire day being productive. It’s a system designed for disappointment.
This methodology additionally helps launch the strain of unrealistic productiveness, permitting area for relaxation, creativity, and the issues that make life really feel good—not simply productive.
What’s the Two-Listing Rule?
At its core, the Two-Listing Rule is about reducing via the noise and specializing in what really issues. As an alternative of a unending scroll of to-dos, this methodology helps you set up your duties into two clear classes:
- Should-Do: These are the non-negotiable duties that both transfer you nearer to your targets or assist keep stability in your life. Suppose: ending a piece deadline, choosing up your baby from faculty, or paying the electrical energy invoice. If it immediately impacts your well-being, duties, or priorities, it belongs right here.
- Good-to-Do: These duties nonetheless maintain worth, however they don’t have to occur right this moment—and even this week. Organizing your closet, experimenting with a brand new recipe, or deep-diving into inbox group all go right here. If there’s additional time or power, nice. If not, no guilt.
Why does it work?
By giving your mind a transparent construction, the Two-Listing Rule helps reduce down on overwhelm and determination fatigue. As an alternative of gazing a sea of duties with no clear start line, you possibly can instantly establish what wants your consideration first. This methodology additionally helps launch the strain of unrealistic productiveness, permitting area for relaxation, creativity, and the issues that make life really feel good—not simply productive.
How you can Use the Two-Listing Rule
Utilizing the Two-Listing Rule is easy—and that’s the fantastic thing about it. As an alternative of getting misplaced in an amazing, catch-all to-do listing, this methodology helps you prioritize with intention. Right here’s the best way to do it:
- Mind Dump Your Duties. Begin by writing down the whole lot you want (or need) to do for the day or week. No filtering but, simply get all of it out.
- Type Into Two Lists. Undergo your listing and categorize every activity:
- Should-Do: Time-sensitive, high-priority duties that transfer the needle (e.g., submitting a piece undertaking, scheduling a health care provider’s appointment, choosing up groceries).
- Good-to-Do: Duties that will be nice to perform however aren’t pressing (e.g., decluttering your closet, making an attempt a brand new recipe, catching up on emails).
- Deal with the Should-Do Listing First. Concentrate on finishing these important duties first, giving your self the satisfaction of actual progress.
- Revisit the Good-to-Do Listing—With out Guilt. When you’ve got additional time or power, nice! If not, these duties can wait. No stress, no disgrace.
Professional Tip: Preserve your Should-Do listing sensible. For those who overload it, you’ll find yourself proper again the place you began—overwhelmed and exhausted. Prioritization is vital. For instance, final Monday, my Should-Do listing included ending an article draft and reserving a vet appointment. My Good-to-Do listing? Deep-cleaning my fridge and eventually responding to a gaggle chat. Guess which one needed to wait.
The Advantages of the Two-Listing Rule
- Lowered Stress: You’ll really feel extra in management and fewer overwhelmed by the whole lot in your plate.
- Guilt-Free Productiveness: The Good-to-Do listing permits for the pliability to loosen up with out guilt, figuring out you’re prioritizing what issues.
- House for Pleasure: When duties are damaged down into clear classes, you create room for unplanned moments of pleasure and relaxation.
- Work-Life Stability: Helps keep that ever-elusive stability between productiveness and private time.
How I’ve Used the Two-Listing Rule in My Life
For years, my to-do lists felt like an limitless, ever-expanding beast. I wasn’t obsessive about productiveness for productiveness’s sake, however I longed for a way of ease—a technique to transfer via my days with path as a substitute of diving headfirst right into a swirling mess of obligations. I wished to belief that what I used to be prioritizing truly mattered, fairly than simply ticking off duties for the sake of feeling completed.
At 30, I don’t have youngsters or a associate, however my life remains to be full. My friendships, my work, my cats (who, let’s be trustworthy, require loads of consideration), and my artistic hobbies all demand power. After which there’s one in every of my favourite roles: being an aunt. I need to be current for my nieces and nephew, exhibiting up for the large and small moments alike. However when the whole lot appears like a precedence, how do you determine what truly is? That’s the place the Two-Listing Rule modified issues for me. Separating what really should be executed from what could be good to do gave me a framework to strategy my days with readability. I began recognizing the duties that moved my targets ahead—whether or not in work, relationships, or private progress—and realized to let go of the guilt round the remainder.
Now, as a substitute of feeling stretched skinny, I can concentrate on what really issues, like making time for FaceTime calls with my niece, deepening my friendships, and deliberately rising my profession.
The Takeaway
I (and lots of others) love and stay by the Two-Listing Rule due to its ease. By breaking duties into must-do and nice-to-do classes, you are taking the strain off your self to perform the whole lot without delay. As an alternative of feeling paralyzed by an amazing listing, you acquire readability. You concentrate on what really strikes the needle whereas releasing the guilt of what can wait.
Strive the Two-Listing Rule tomorrow. Write down your duties and cut up them into must-do and nice-to-do. You may discover that doing much less helps you get extra of the correct issues executed. Bear in mind, true productiveness isn’t about doing all of it. It’s about doing what issues most.
