I enjoy planning and having a system for keeping track of my goals, commitments, and tasks. This system makes me an effective self-directed leader and if you develop a similar system, it can have the same benefits for you as well.

But what does an effective system look like? For me, it is a system that defines what I commit to doing for the next 7 days. It is also a system that schedules tasks on my future tasks list. This ensures that tasks that will not come due for months, or even a year, will not be forgotten.

A good system consists of the following three features:

1. Daily to do lists.
2. Future tasks list.
3. Easily accessible.

Daily To Do Lists

The core of my planning system is daily to do lists. I have written about this before, and I want to stress the value of this system.

When you have a lot of goals and responsibilities, it can feel overwhelming. Tackling everything you want or need to do can eat up of all of your time, or it can demoralize you if you continually let things slip. This is where daily to do lists come into play.

When you create daily to do lists for each day of the week, you can spread your responsibilities throughout the week. You can even schedule tasks for next week, or even next month, based on their urgency and importance.

When you do this, it frees your mind and you do not have to constantly worry about forgetting what you committed to doing. Instead, you can simply periodically review your to do list during the day to remind yourself about your scheduled tasks for the day.

You can even schedule downtime as a daily task. I also encourage you to schedule a night off during the week.

With a daily to do list system you can ensure that you dedicate time to your most important goals and responsibilities, while also leaving room for rest and recreation.

Future Tasks List

In addition to creating a to do list for each of the next seven days (which I create every Sunday), I also schedule tasks on a future tasks list. These are tasks that will not come due this week and that I need to work on later this month, or later this year. This can even include reminders for things you need to do more than a year in the future.

By having a task list that schedules future tasks, you can be sure to never forget important dates, tasks, and milestones that do not happen in the near future. For example, renewing your passport or other long-term deadlines are good things to put on your future task list.

Accessibility

Something crucial to an effective to do list system is having a system that is easy to use and is easily accessible. This is why I use the ClickUp app, which is a web-based program available on both my computer and my phone. I can do quick reviews of my to do list system on my phone, while having access on my computer as well.

Whether you use ClickUp or some other task app, it is important that is a tool that you check on a regular basis. Having an app that stores your data on the cloud is very powerful. It means you can view your tasks at any time on your phone, and you can still access your lists on your computer when you want a larger screen.

Having a phone app makes it easy to quickly add a new task that comes up during the day. It also allows you to review your task list no matter where you are. This is why I prefer a cloud-based tasks app.

One feature that sold me on the use of ClickUp is the ability to group my to do list by due date. This gives me a separate tasks list in the app for each of the day of the week. Any tasks that are scheduled beyond 7 days simply appear on a future tasks list sorted by due date.

This works great on my computer because I can see my scheduled commitments for the entire week. And I can easily check my phone when not at my desk.

Conclusion

When you have an effective daily action planning system, you can free your mind from worrying about your goals and commitments and instead focus on the task you are currently working on. Instead of having to recall a vast array of responsibilities and tasks, you can simply focus on remembering to regularly review your daily to do list throughout the day.

Your system can also ensure that future commitments and appointments are not forgotten. For example, if something will not happen for a month or more, then having it as a scheduled task on your to do list system will help to guarantee that you act on that item when it comes due.

My favourite tool for maintaining daily to do lists and future commitment is ClickUp. It lets me group my tasks by day of the week and it shows me everything I have committed to do for the next 7 days, and everything after that shows on a future tasks list.

You don’t have to use ClickUp, but I do recommend a cloud-base tasks app that allows you to access tasks on both your phone and your computer. And most importantly, make it a system that gives you a daily today list for each of the week, along with a future tasks list to capture things happening further in the future.