A Musician’s Guide to Todo Lists

Todo lists are the bomb. They help you not have to stress about hundreds of details, organize your thoughts, and generally keep on top of your business. For musicians, I can’t imagine a more important tool in keeping your career on track. Here are 6 ways to use a todo list: 

1. Write down everything you need to do. That includes little stuff and the big items, too. 

2. Divide your todos into categories. I break mine into Work and Personal, but I know some people that have categories for every project they do, and each business in their life. Experiment, and see what works for you. 

3. Set deadlines for each item. By doing setting times, you make sure important tasks don’t slip through the cracks. I personally can’t do more than about 7 todo items in an hour time slot, but your mileage may vary. 

4. Budget time in your day to work on your list. If you don’t create time, you won’t get everything done. 

5. Bump what you can’t do. Find a time at the end of the week to get done all the stuff that isn’t urgent, and you could afford to put off. 

6. Hold yourself accountable with a week-end review. If you’re consistently finding you can’t get all your work done, you might need to pair back what you do each week.