Everything You Need To Know About To-Do Lists

Show notes
I haven’t taught a masterclass in awhile because I’ve been dealing with chemo, but I recently started doing my monthly masterclasses for accountants and the first topic I decided to share is everything you need to know about to-do lists.
In today’s episode I want to share some of the information I taught in that masterclass and let you know that if you’re interested in upcoming masterclasses, I’ll be announcing them each month, so don’t worry. I’ll be covering a lot of important topics for accountants like everything you need to know about procrastination, everything you need to know about time blocking, etc.
Before we dive in, if any of what I’m going to share resonates with you, and you’re ready to get more control over your time, I offer a free 30-minute Time Management Audit Zoom call. I’ll explain more later, but you can book your audit at https://thesmarteraccountant.com/time-audit/
Alright, now let’s dive into today’s topic. I think we can all agree that to-do lists have become this universal tool we rely on to keep our lives in order, right? Whether you’re an accountant juggling client deadlines, a parent managing household tasks, or just someone trying to get through the day without dropping the ball, you’ve probably got some version of a to-do list.
It might be on paper, on an app, on sticky notes, or even just floating around in your head.
The interesting thing is that there’s something about a to-do list that feels so reassuring. We believe we have this little map guiding us through the chaos, and every time we cross something off, we get that tiny rush of satisfaction. It feels productive—like we’re moving forward, one task at a time.
But here’s the thing—if you’ve ever found yourself with a never-ending list, feeling like no matter how much you check off, you’re still behind, you’re not alone. We’ve all had those days where the list just keeps growing, and at the end of it, you’re left wondering, ‘What did I really accomplish today?’
To-do lists are supposed to help us manage our time better, but often, they leave us feeling like we’re on a hamster wheel—busy, but not really getting anywhere. I’ve coached a lot of accountants who tell me that even though they’re crossing off tasks all day long, they still feel overwhelmed, stressed, and like they’re falling behind. So what’s going on?
Well, I’ve spent years studying time management, especially for professionals like us, and what I’ve come to realize is that to-do lists, while helpful in some ways, often give us a false sense of control. They trick us into thinking we’re managing our time well just because we’re crossing things off.
But the real question is: are we crossing off the right things? Are we managing our time, or is our time managing us?
In this episode, I’m going to help you rethink how you approach your to-do list. I’m going to dive into why it might not be working the way you think it is, and how you can start making some changes that will actually help you feel more in control of your time.
Not Everything On Your List Is Yours To Do
Now, let’s talk about something that I see happening all the time, especially with accountants: the belief that everything on your to-do list is something you need to handle. If you’re anything like the accountants I coach, you might be nodding your head right now because it probably feels like no one else can do it quite like you can, right? It’s this idea that if you don’t do it, it won’t get done—or worse, it won’t get done correctly.
Here’s the truth: not everything on your list is yours to do. That might be a tough pill to swallow, especially if you’re used to being the go-to person for getting things done. But when we try to take on everything ourselves, what we’re really doing is setting ourselves up for overwhelm and burnout.
Think about it—how many things on your list could be done by someone else? Maybe it’s a colleague, a family member, or even your kids. The problem is, we often tell ourselves, ‘It’s just easier if I do it.’ Or we worry that if we delegate, we’ll still have to fix it later. And trust me, I get it.
We’ve all been there, holding onto tasks that we don’t need to because we think it’ll save us time or stress. But what ends up happening? We get overloaded, frustrated, and burnt out.
The truth is that delegation is one of the hardest things to learn, but it’s also one of the most powerful. When you start letting go of things that don’t actually need your attention, you make room for the stuff that really matters—the work that only you can do.
And I don’t just mean at work—I mean in your personal life, too. Whether it’s handing off a project at work or asking for help around the house, you don’t have to do everything.
Now it sounds easy to just address the fact that not everything on your to-do list is yours to do, but you’re probably going to face some obstacles, especially from your own brain. Here’s what you need to know about why this happens and the challenges you might encounter:
Your brain loves routine and familiarity: Your brain finds comfort in doing things the way they’ve always been done. When you think about delegating or handing off tasks, it feels unfamiliar and, therefore, risky. Your brain resists this change, preferring to stick with what’s comfortable—even if that comfort is causing you stress.
Fear of losing control: A lot of the time, you might hesitate to delegate because you’re worried the task won’t be done correctly. You think, ‘If I don’t do it, it won’t be done right.’ This need for control keeps you holding onto tasks that could be done by others, adding more pressure to your plate. But holding onto that control isn’t really helping; it’s just leading to more stress.
Guilt and the need to please: You might also feel guilty about handing tasks off, especially if you’re someone who’s used to taking on a lot. You worry about letting people down or not meeting their expectations. That guilt convinces you that taking on more is the right thing to do, even when it’s pushing you toward burnout.
Fear of change and uncertainty: Change is hard, and when you start delegating, it means you’re changing the way you manage your tasks. Your brain prefers the certainty of handling everything yourself, even if it’s overwhelming. It might tell you, ‘This is just the way it has to be,’ making it difficult to break free from the habit of doing too much.
So, the next time you look at your to-do list, I want you to ask yourself, ‘Is this something that only I can do?’ If the answer is no, then it’s time to consider delegating or eliminating it altogether.
Remember, trying to handle everything on your own isn’t a sign of good time management—it’s a fast track to stress, overwhelm, and burnout. The more you can let go of tasks that aren’t truly yours, the more time and energy you’ll have for the things that matter most.
Your Brain Gets Automatically Overwhelmed By To-Do Lists
Let’s face it—just looking at a long to-do list can make you feel overwhelmed. It’s like the moment you sit down, glance at that never-ending list of tasks, and your brain immediately goes into panic mode. That’s not your imagination; there’s actually science behind why this happens.
When your brain sees a long list, it feels threatened, triggering a stress response. Instead of focusing, you freeze or avoid hard tasks. Your brain tries to protect you from stress but ends up causing procrastination instead.
I’m sure you’ve experienced this before—your list is full, you’re overwhelmed, and suddenly, you find yourself doing anything but the most important tasks. It’s like your brain is saying, ‘Let’s just focus on the easy stuff right now,’ even though deep down, you know it’s not what you need to be doing. That’s not a flaw in your character; that’s just how the brain works when it’s overwhelmed.
But here’s the thing: even though we know that long to-do lists overwhelm our brain, it’s still hard to break the habit of overloading ourselves. There are several reasons why it feels so challenging to manage that sense of overwhelm, and they’re all tied to how our brain works.
Your brain’s avoidance mechanism: Your brain naturally avoids discomfort, so when faced with a long list, it looks for easy distractions—like checking your phone. This keeps you in a cycle of procrastination instead of focusing on bigger tasks.
Fear of failure or perfectionism: For a lot of people, especially accountants, perfectionism plays a huge role in procrastination. Your brain might tell you, ‘If I can’t do it perfectly, I shouldn’t start at all.’ This fear of not doing something well enough leads to putting off tasks that feel too big or important, which only adds to your overwhelm.
Lack of clarity and overwhelm: When tasks on your list feel too vague or too large, your brain has no clear starting point. This lack of clarity increases the sense of overwhelm because you don’t know where to begin, and so, the default is to do nothing—or to stick to the smaller, easier tasks.
The instant gratification trap: Your brain loves quick wins. So, when faced with a hard or time-consuming task, it’s easy to gravitate toward things that give immediate satisfaction, like clearing your inbox or tidying up. It feels productive in the moment, but it’s actually a distraction from the tasks that move the needle forward.
Misjudging time and effort: Your brain often underestimates how much time a task will take, which leads to the belief that you can ‘do it later.’ The problem is that this misjudgment makes the task pile up, and when the deadline starts looming, the stress becomes overwhelming. This just adds fuel to the procrastination fire.
So, if you ever find yourself stuck, staring at your to-do list and feeling paralyzed, just remember—this is how your brain naturally reacts to overwhelm. The key isn’t to push through or do more; it’s about understanding how your brain works so you can stop feeling like you’re constantly fighting against it.
Crossing Things Off Your To-Do List Is NOT Time Management
The third thing you need to know is that crossing things off your to-do list is NOT real time management. Sure, it feels good to check off tasks, but that doesn’t mean you’ve managed your time effectively
Here’s why: just getting things done doesn’t necessarily mean you’re making meaningful progress. Many people focus on easy or low-priority tasks just for that sense of accomplishment, but that leaves the high-impact work—the tasks that truly make you productive—untouched.
As I mentioned earlier, it leads to the feeling of being busy, but not productive.
So, let’s get real—just because you’re crossing things off your to-do list doesn’t mean you’re managing your time. True time management goes way beyond checking boxes. It’s all about using your time intentionally and focusing on what really matters. Let’s break it down:
Effective Time Blocking: One of the biggest game-changers for managing your time is learning how to time block. Why? Because a to-do list is static—it doesn’t tell you when to do each task. Without time blocking, you’re left guessing when to tackle your work, which can lead to a lot of wasted time. Time blocking, on the other hand, means deciding in advance when each task will happen, making sure your day is efficient. I like to explain it to my clients as making ‘reservations’ on your calendar, ensuring you don’t get overbooked.
Dealing with Procrastination: To-do lists don’t help when it comes to procrastination. They just sit there, waiting for you to get things done, but they don’t address the mental roadblocks that hold you back—things like fear or lack of motivation. That’s why it’s so easy to keep pushing the hard tasks to ‘tomorrow,’ while the real work keeps piling up.
Prioritizing: Another big piece of time management is learning how to prioritize. The problem with lists is that they don’t help you figure out what’s most important. On paper, everything looks equally urgent, and that’s just how your brain works—it sees everything on the list as needing attention right now. The result? You spend too much time on the low-priority stuff, leaving the high-impact work undone. Without clear priorities, you end up wasting effort.
Handling Interruptions: To-do lists can’t adapt when life throws you interruptions, and let’s face it, that happens all the time. When things come up unexpectedly, your list doesn’t shift with you, and you end up feeling like you’re falling behind. Effective time management means having the flexibility and tools to handle those interruptions while still staying focused on what’s most important.
Guaranteeing Follow-Through: It’s one thing to have a list of tasks, but it’s another thing to actually follow through on them. To-do lists might make you feel productive, but they don’t guarantee that the most important work gets done. You can spend hours checking off the smaller tasks and still avoid the big ones. Without a system in place that holds you accountable, it’s easy to stay busy but never truly productive.
Delegating When Necessary: As I mentioned earlier, part of managing your time well is knowing when to delegate. A to-do list doesn’t help you figure out which tasks are yours to handle and which ones can be passed off. It gives the illusion that everything is equally important, but that’s not true. When you try to do it all yourself, you end up overwhelmed. Delegating frees up your time for the tasks that really matter and helps you manage your energy better.
Setting and Sticking to Boundaries: Time management isn’t just about getting things done—it’s also about protecting your time. A list doesn’t help you set boundaries with your time, and when you’re only relying on that, it’s easy for other people’s demands to creep into your day. Effective time management is about setting limits and sticking to them.
Email Management: Finally, we can’t talk about time management without mentioning email, especially for accountants. A to-do list doesn’t account for the massive time drain that is your inbox. Emails pile up and become just another overwhelming list to deal with, constantly distracting you from your most important work. You need strategies to handle your inbox efficiently so that it doesn’t take over your day.
The bottom line is this: crossing things off your to-do list might feel good, but it’s not real time management. Time management is about prioritizing, blocking your time, and following through on the work that matters most.
Not All Hours Are Created Equal
Okay, let’s talk about something that most of us tend to overlook when we’re trying to get through a long to-do list: not all hours are created equal. I think we’ve all had those days where we’re trying to push through a tough task, but it’s just not happening. It’s frustrating, right? You’re staring at your screen, willing yourself to get it done, but your brain is just not cooperating.
Here’s the thing—your energy, focus, and productivity levels aren’t the same throughout the day. Some hours, you’re energized and sharp, ready to tackle the big stuff. Other times, you’re dragging and can barely get through a simple email. But the problem with to-do lists is that they treat every task and every hour as if they’re exactly the same.
That’s why you end up scheduling complicated, high-energy tasks for times when you’re mentally drained, or you waste your best hours on low-priority tasks like clearing out your inbox. It’s not that you’re doing something wrong; it’s just that you’re not aligning your tasks with your natural energy levels. So, instead of focusing on when you’re doing the work, you’re just trying to power through your list, hour by hour. And we all know how that ends—frustration, burnout, and not much progress
Here are some of the issues that working off a to-do list creates with your time and energy:
Ignoring energy peaks and valleys: Most people plan their day as if their energy levels stay constant, but that’s not how our brains work. We all have natural peaks and valleys in our energy throughout the day. Ignoring this means you might be trying to tackle high-focus work during a low-energy period, which leads to stress and low-quality results.
Wasting peak hours on low-priority tasks: Without knowing when you’re at your best, it’s easy to waste your most productive hours on busywork—like responding to emails or handling administrative tasks. By the time you get around to the high-priority items, your energy is zapped. This is why it feels like you’re working hard but not getting the important stuff done.
Trying to push through mental fatigue: Your brain isn’t designed to be ‘on’ all the time. When you’re mentally drained, your focus drops, your decision-making suffers, and tasks take way longer than they should. Trying to power through when your brain is fatigued just ends up creating more stress and taking more time than necessary.
Overestimating your capacity: To-do lists can make it seem like you can get everything done if you just push a little harder. This mindset causes you to overestimate what you can realistically accomplish in a day. By the end, you feel exhausted and discouraged because you’re falling short of expectations that weren’t reasonable in the first place.
No built-in flexibility: To-do lists often lack flexibility for handling shifts in your energy levels. They assume you’ll have the same focus and drive at 4 p.m. as you did at 9 a.m., which just isn’t true. When you try to stick rigidly to a list that doesn’t account for these natural changes, you end up feeling like you’re constantly falling behind.
The bottom line? It’s not just what you’re doing—it’s when you’re doing it. The hours where you’re at your best are your most valuable asset, so they should be reserved for your highest-impact work. The goal isn’t to fill every hour with tasks; it’s to make sure you’re using your best hours for the work that really matters.
If You Don’t Know How to Manage Your Mind, You Don’t Know How to Manage Your Time
Now, this is the part that ties everything together. We’ve talked about delegating, managing overwhelm, knowing the difference between being busy and being productive, and understanding your energy levels.
But here’s the thing—none of that really matters if you don’t know how to manage your mind. Because if you don’t know how to manage your mind, you don’t know how to manage your time.
Here’s why: everything you do, or don’t do, starts with a thought. Your thoughts create your feelings, and those feelings drive your actions.
If your mind is full of thoughts like, ‘There’s too much to do,’ or ‘I’ll never get this all done,’ you’re going to feel overwhelmed, and that feeling will drive actions like procrastinating, avoiding tasks, or jumping from one thing to another without focus.
The result? Your to-do list gets longer, your stress increases, and you feel like you’re constantly running behind.
So, the real key to mastering time management is mastering your mindset. If you can manage your thoughts, you can manage your feelings, and ultimately, you can manage your time. But, of course, there are obstacles to doing this—let’s talk about them.
Default negative thinking: Our brains are wired to focus on the negative. When you see your to-do list, your brain highlights what’s overwhelming, which leads to stress and keeps you stuck.
Hard to break old habits: Your brain likes familiarity, and once you’ve established a habit—like always thinking, ‘I don’t have enough time,’ or ‘I have to do everything myself’—it’s hard to break out of it. These thought patterns become automatic, and unless you actively work to change them, they’ll keep running in the background, controlling your actions and your time.
Getting busy instead of productive: When overwhelmed, it’s easier to focus on small, feel-good tasks rather than the ones that truly matter. But being busy doesn’t equal being productive, and without managing your mindset, you’ll keep falling into this cycle.
No lasting change: You’ve probably tried different time management techniques before, and maybe they worked for a while, but then you found yourself back in the same overwhelmed state. That’s because no matter how great a system is, if you don’t change the way you think, your brain will always revert to its old habits. Mindset is the key to making lasting changes in how you manage your time.
So, if you want to take control of your time, you have to start by taking control of your mind. The way you think about your time and your tasks directly affects how you handle them. Mastering your mindset is the real secret to effective time management—it’s the foundation that everything else builds on.
Becoming a Smarter Accountant: Getting A Better Handle On Time Management
Now, I know I’ve talked a lot about the ineffectiveness of to-do lists, but here’s the thing—you don’t want your brain cluttered like an overflowing closet of things to do. You want all those thoughts and tasks out of your head and onto paper.
The truth is, your brain is for processing, not storing. So yes, a to-do list is helpful for getting those swirling thoughts organized. But that’s only step one. From there, you need to understand what real time management looks like.
So, if to-do lists aren’t as effective as we’ve been led to believe, then what is? That’s the big question, and it’s something I’ve been studying for years. It’s also why I created The Smarter Accountant Time Management Program—because I saw firsthand how shifting your approach to time management can completely transform how you handle your workload.
I’ve worked with a lot of accountants who were stuck in the same cycle—long to-do lists, constant stress, and never enough time. And I’ve seen how powerful it is when they learn to manage their minds, prioritize their time effectively, and focus on the tasks that matter most. Let me share a story about one of my coaching clients who made an incredible transformation.
This client, like many of you, was juggling a mountain of tasks every day. Her to-do list was endless, and she always felt like she was falling behind, no matter how much she got done. She was crossing things off but never really making progress on the bigger, high-impact work that would move her career forward.
After working together, she learned how to manage her brain’s natural tendencies toward overwhelm and procrastination. She started using her time more intentionally—blocking out periods for focused work and learning to delegate what wasn’t hers to handle. Within a few weeks, she wasn’t just getting through her list—she was actually creating space for the kind of work that truly mattered.
And here’s the most powerful part—she wasn’t more ‘productive’ in the traditional sense. She wasn’t doing more things; she was just doing the right things at the right time, and that’s what made all the difference.
That all started with a Time Management Audit which I’ll discuss in a minute. Now I want to share the key takeaway and action item for this week.
Key Takeaway and Action Item
The biggest takeaway I want you to remember is this: to-do lists are NOT time management. They’re a starting point to make sure things don’t fall through the cracks, but they are not effectively managing your time.
Time management is about focusing on what really matters, aligning your tasks with your energy, and learning to manage your mind so that you stay in control, not your list.
So, here’s your action item: this week, I want you to start paying attention to how you’re using your time. Take a look at your to-do list and ask yourself, ‘Am I doing the right things at the right time?’ If you find that you’re spending your best hours on low-impact tasks, it’s time to make a shift. Block off time for the important things and see how that changes your day.
And if you’re ready to take this to the next level, let me explain how a Time Management Audit can help you get clarity on exactly where your time is going and how to make those critical shifts to become a Smarter Accountant. The truth is that time management is not a one-size-fits-all kind of thing, especially for accountants.
That’s why during your Time Management Audit, we’ll spend 30 minutes on a Zoom call diving into your current time management habits and uncover what’s really keeping you from being as productive as you’d like.
I’ll help you identify the key areas where you’re getting stuck, whether it’s prioritizing tasks, dealing with constant interruptions, procrastinating, or feeling overwhelmed by your to-do list.
Again, since time management is not one size fits all for accountants, this call will give you personalized suggestions. It’s all about giving you insight into your current habits and showing you how a few changes can lead to more control, less stress, and a more balanced approach to your work and life.
If today’s episode hit home, let’s talk. Schedule a call, and I’ll help you go from stressed to smarter, with a time management system that works specifically for accountants. You can book your Time Management Audit at https://thesmarteraccountant.com/time-audit/
Well, that’s what I have for you. Thank you for joining me as I discussed everything you need to know about to-do lists.
So if you are struggling with any aspect of being an accountant, you can simply go to www.thesmarteraccountant.com/calendar and book a free session with me.
And make sure you check back each week as I help you go from being a stressed accountant to a Smarter Accountant.
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