A graphic of a pile of boxes with a clipboard containing a tick list propped up against the boxes
Episode 70 – Getting your to do list done

In this podcast, we discuss getting your to-do list done. When you declutter a room, it inevitably unearths things that need to be actioned. Things we haven't seen for a while that need something doing with them. It can be hard to retain focus and get that to do list done.
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Transcript of this podcast episode
Intro  0:07  
Welcome to today's episode of The declutter hub podcast, your channel for super easy, no nonsense advice on how to declutter and organise your home. Please welcome your host professional organisers, Ingrid Jansen, and Lesley Spellman.

Ingrid  0:30  
Hello, and welcome listeners to Episode 70 of the declutter hub Podcast. I'm Ingrid and I mostly, if you have clutter and want to sort it out, this is the show for you, as well as the free resources on our declutter app.com websites, like the podcast checklists and guest blogs. We also have an exclusive area where we guide our members step by step to declutter their homes, we realise this can be very overwhelming. So we're there every step of the way. With courses, live q&a and a community discussion. Take a look on members dot declutter hub.com. If you'd like to find out more, in today's episodes, Lesley and I are talking about getting your to do list done. When you're decluttering and organising, you will come across lots of jobs that you haven't done yet, or haven't finished. And we recommend creating a to do list and to do books to make sure those jobs don't disappear again on their stuff. Now, Lesley, some people call it a to do list. Some people call it the task list. Some people say we shouldn't make a list at all. But we like a list, don't we?

Lesley  1:37  
Yeah, definitely think it might it's the final part in the organisation really isn't it to get your thoughts onto paper or onto something like Trello, or an app or on your notes on your phone, you know, let's come in all different shapes and sizes don't They don't just need to be written down. I think it's fair to say that probably the majority of people are still using the paper list.

Ingrid  1:57  
I actually read somewhere the other day that that paper and pen are making a bit of a return, that if you actually write something down, you're much better in containing and remembering the information and when you type it into a screen. So that was quite interesting. And I love a paper list. So I'm completely on board with the to do list.

Lesley  2:18  
And I suppose we're taught what we're talking about not just a standard to do lists we're talking about something that comes about as a result of another task out is a decluttering task, or those final things that you on earth when you're decluttering. Because when you're decluttering, you're then going through your stuff and seeing stuff for the first time, sometimes in many, many months or even years. And so you're on Earth in things that sometimes need something to do with them.

Ingrid  2:43  
Yes. And that's very true. Because actually, I was decluttering and organising with a client of mine. And we found things that need to be done and things that needs to be sorted and organised. And she's like, Oh my gosh, Ingrid, other decluttering and organising should give me less jobs. I'm only finding more jobs. And I'm like, Well, they've been there the whole time. You just haven't seen that.

Lesley  3:04  
It's the same thing. Oh, I've not seen that for years, you know, how many times do we see that? Oh, gosh, I didn't know where that was? Or I've been looking for that. Or, you know, all those kinds of things that come up, you do honour things that you've lost or mislaid or, or just not seen? They've been buried under a pile of stuff. And so that brings with it tasks? And that's what we're talking about today?

Ingrid  3:24  
Definitely. Because the thing is, all those things are in your head somewhere. In your in your hard drive in your heads, somewhere there is a notification going, you need to fill out this form. There's some but where is it? I don't know where it is you need to sell that button on but I don't know where the button is. Or I don't know what the thing is. Why should so in on or so you know all these tasks and these things that need doing. But because they're buried, you can't see them. That doesn't mean they suddenly disappear from your brain.

Lesley  3:58  
Yeah, and they're scattered aren't there. They're scattered around. They're not in one place where you can gather your thoughts together and put them onto one list all in one area. That's the thing, isn't it?

Ingrid  4:10  
Definitely. So Lesley, do you have a to do list?

Lesley  4:14  
Well, I think you already know about my to do list thing, because we were just talking about before we came live on. And you said that you've got three lists. And I said I've got six lists. And so I think I out list you today because some of my lists have got 20 things on them. And some of my things have only got one thing on them. And some of my lists are also lists for clients because I project manage things for clients and so it depends on how you look at those less than how you categorise them I suppose. But I have literally got six lists sitting in front of me at the moment. Okay,

Ingrid  4:51  
in the end, it's alright, you're not as long. I think what is really helpful is that you've not got one gigantic to do list but you've actually Lee subcategorized it into personal, your clutter fairy business, the declutter hub, what we're doing today, you've got the list for two different clients. So I think that's already really helpful, that you not don't have the the list of all lists here. And that you kind of have to run through your whole one mega list all the time. But you actually can do it category by category. Again, it's categorization.

Lesley  5:26  
It is I mean, this, of course, you know, this is kind of taking a slightly off topic from where we were because this is not as a result of a decluttering. Exercise. Yeah, this is just my standard to do list. Yeah, but it's important even within that, when you're decluttering, you still can categorise your lists. And I think there's probably going to be two main categories of lists that you're going to tackle. Hopefully, you've not got 10 lists, that would be a little bit overwhelming. But what you're going to have is you're going to have paperwork, tight lists. So if you declutter your paperwork, that will create undoubtedly a lot of things that need action. And then if you declutter in a room, a kitchen, a bedroom, a spare, spare bedroom, whatever, get rid your loft, that's going to be more of a list about stuff that needs things dealing with that rather than actions that need to be done with the paperwork. So I think we can categorise it. Certainly. Would you agree with that? Yes. Paperwork and all that kind of stuff in inverted commas list.

Ingrid  6:22  
Yeah. Interestingly enough, one of my clients has a really big home office. And actually, we found a lot of first stuff to do's in there, because that's why she was keeping the stuff. So it's in her house, it was from everywhere, plus her homework, it was not only paperwork that needed, sorting, and to be put on a to do list, but it was also stuff that we found there. So let's talk about things that need doing. And when you can create a to do box, I called it a to do box because we found things which needs action. But it wasn't paperwork. So that's why I created a to do box. So what would we find in there then?

Lesley  7:01  
So if you've decluttered a room, for example, and it's let's say you've done the bedroom, it's probably going to be clothing, it needs things doing to them. So it may be mending may be taken to the dry cleaners, maybe returning to your sister or your mom may be selling it on eBay. Those kinds of things. Is that what you're talking about? Those are the kinds of things that are gonna go into a to do box.

Ingrid  7:22  
Uh, yeah, I would say definitely, like, if you find a button that needs sewing on to a garments, that would definitely go in my to do books, or, indeed shoes that need mending needs to go to the menders that could go in and to do books, those kinds of really practical tasks that needs to be done. Or it can be, for example, we found my client had ordered some special batteries for a certain lamp that her one of her kids had in the bedroom. But when we're shorting her her stuff out, we didn't want to go up to a kid's bedroom, find the lamp, get it down, find the tool to replace the battery. So I said, let's put that battery in the to do box. And then later today, or over the weekend, when you've got time to get all your tools out and get the lamp, then you can fix the lamp of your kids. But we didn't put the battery kind of down somewhere to be never seen again or yeah, let me put it down here for now. And then it gets lost again amongst the other stuff. So that's why I think where to do books really helps.

Lesley  8:31  
I don't think there's two things wrapped up in there, a, that you're keeping that stuff to one side to action later and be that you're not doing it there and then getting distracted from the task at hand. Those are the two things because how often do we see that when people trot off to do something that they find thinking I'll do it now while I think about it, but actually that's going to distract you and stop you from decluttering the room or getting to the end of that decluttering. So that's really, really important. Yeah, and the interesting thing as well is that those kind of things, clothing that needs buttons, or needs to go to the dry cleaners until it's action is, is effectively clutter, because it's something that you're not using that you can't practically use, because it's not almost fit for purpose at the moment. And that you know, something's not been to the dry cleaners. It's not fit for purpose, it's not clean, it's got a stain on it needs fixing before it can be used again. So think about those things as clutter. So effectively, you're sort of extracting that clutter, putting it into a box and then doing something to it, which means that it can potentially then be reused.

Ingrid  9:29  
I'm really glad we're talking about this because we want to give a few more examples. So our listeners really understand what kind of things you find in there. So for example, I nearly always find a book that needs returning to the library or to the school from the kids, and it's gotten into the book collection and then we're sorting through books is that oh my gosh, that's not even my book. It needs to be returned. But you can't put it back in a bookcase. You can't put it down somewhere. So that's a perfect item to go into to do books because it has to be We turn to somewhere else, it can even be a letter that needs to be thrown into the neighbor's because it was delivered wrong by the postman, you know, it can be all those kinds of really random bits that you find and that need an action.

Lesley  10:13  
For things like that there's going to be almost like a double action isn't there. So we're going to put it in the first instance, while we're decluttering, we're going to put it into a box. And you and I will almost undoubtedly always have a box that we categorise things that need things to be done. That's the to do box. Yeah, well, we're decluttering. And then at that point, you're then going to go through that to do box, and you're going to put those things in places where they are going to get done. Things like gift cards that you find in amongst paperwork, put it in your purse, because then when you go out shopping, it's in your person, you can use that. Or even if you're buying online, you know, when I buy things online, I am undoubtedly because I don't like to save my credit card details online. So I undoubtedly have to grab my purse before I can buy something online. So even if you're using that gift card online, it's in the right place, it's in the place where you would naturally go to, to buy things and spend money. And so it needs to be there, you know, things like school books that need to be returned to school, they need to be then put with your child's school bag or in your handbag to return to the library. So there's kind of almost like a double stack isn't the to getting things done. We talked about this very thing in Episode 60, which was organising your entrance hall, if you've got an entrance hall, because quite often hallways become those magnets for clutter, where people put things that need to be done. But you need to almost break it down sometimes, you know, I could certainly put something on the whole table that needs to be posted for sure. And that would be a visual reminder to me, because there's nothing else on the whole table that needs to be done. But if you put loads and loads of things on there, and then it just becomes more visual clutter. So it's really important to think things through and put things in the place that you're actually naturally going to look for them when you're doing something

Ingrid  12:00  
very true. And I think a to do books can live in different places it can, for every house, there's there's the place where it makes sense to have this box. In my clients case, it was a utility room, because that's where she spent a lot of time because she's in and out of there, but for lots of different reasons. So for her it left there, I have a little flat area in my kitchen, which which is almost my gathering area where those kinds of things because it gives me a reminder, okay, I need to bring that to the dry cleaners or to the menders or back to the library. So that's where my, I don't have a box, but it's my area where I keep those things together. So I think when you're decluttering and organising, and you're just starting out that everything is kind of everywhere. To do books is really, really helpful.

Lesley  12:51  
Definitely, I mean, mine's in my office, because that's kind of almost my hub of where I get things done, really. So I keep those kinds of things in my office.

Ingrid  12:59  
Yeah, yeah. And it can be just to give another few examples, maybe you need to glue something back on. And you've now ordered the glue, you're waiting for the glue to come in. And then you're like, right, I'm now going to get the part that I need to glue back on. And I know what a little part is, instead of I've put it down on a mental piece somewhere and I can't find it anymore. It can be that you need to put something back in a book because something got ripped out, and you need to repair it but you don't have time. Or it can be a toy that needs sorting batteries that need changing from an from an item. It's not a two minute job that can be done quickly, but it needs some more attention or it needs a tool or an appliance or something that needs fixing. I think those kinds of things live in the toolbox.

Lesley  13:45  
Definitely. And you know, the kinds of things that you mentioned where you have to glue something on. A lot of those things will be found in junk drawers up and down the country, won't they you know, something falls off a little ornament or something smashed off the corner and you keep the corner but you've not quite glued it on. So if you are decluttering the junk drawer that's probably going to unearth quite a few little actions.

Ingrid  14:08  
Yeah, that is definitely true. It was so funny because I was over Christmas one of my my daughter unfortunately dropped one of my ornaments I was not happy. And I was about to glue glue tried to think I'm going to glue that back on and then I kind of looked at it and I thought no, that's not that's not gonna happen. I'm just gonna make the decision now I'm going to go through these but it hurt because it was one of my favourite ornaments but so some of the chef's also bite the bullet and go Am I really going to glue this back on? Or am I really going to go through the effort of trying to repair something if you know it's not going to happen by the bullet instead of constantly seeing the same thing? I still haven't done it. I still haven't done it. Maybe it's just a matter of you know what, nevermind, not going to happen. Talking about

Lesley  14:53  
that kind of thing. The kinds of things that definitely sit in a to do box often don't get done is selling things So quite often people will say, Well, I want to put that to one side, because I want to sell it, we talk about this in other podcasts, whether or not it's worthwhile and whether that's actually going to happen. And so really be honest with yourself about whether you are actually going to sell something. Exactly the same with returning things to family members. So quite often people say, oh, you know, I'm gonna keep all those close to one side, I'm gonna give them to my sister, or my niece or nephew or whatever. And now, you know, my question is quite often, well, when are you next going to see your niece or nephew? Because quite often, it might only be once a year. So you've really got to think that through Have you got the time, the space the energy, then to keep those close to one side for a year? Or would you not be better to just send them off to a charity shop and get that job done?

Ingrid  15:43  
Point very, very well made? Well, we can think of another probably 50 examples of things that can live in a to do books, but let's just then move on to paperwork, less people's paperwork, like very rightfully so said, creates a lot of to dues in my universe, they don't go into to do books, because that's more stuff. So I have to do folder where paperwork to dues live in. Do you have you got that too,

Lesley  16:13  
I've now got a folder. So you like folders down here. This is where we always disagree. We always disagree listeners. Because for me, and this is explain my rationale again, for me, as soon as something goes into a folder, it means it's been filed away. And for me, that's kind of an archive system. So I but it's the same way really because I've got an inbox. And so but the difference probably Ingrid is I've got a home office, I can have an inbox and and you haven't, so you're wanting to create that within the rest of your house. So therefore, you've not got the same scenario that I have, where I can spread out a little bit on my desk with my inboxes and things. So that's where that comes from. Because you have to work with the space that you've got, I've got an opportunity to have an inbox and you're like, Well, I want it to be neat and tidy. This is my living room or my kitchen. I don't want papers out in an inbox. And so that's probably where that comes from. So I've got the benefit of having that you haven't. So therefore you do a folder, and I just use an intro. But same principle. It's all gathered together, and it sits there until it's done.

Ingrid  17:11  
Yeah. So what kind of things live in your in trade? And lastly, what can we give as examples. So if you're you're doing a declutter, either yourself or with your clients. So what kind of things do we find that might be interesting for our listeners to know so they can understand what we're talking about here is quite often

Lesley  17:31  
phone calls that needs to be made, isn't it to double check things. And so people on Earth, but I'm not quite sure about that one need to double check that. So quite often, it needs to follow up with a phone call or with an email or with putting something on a contact form. So that kind of thing. It might be something where you know that you want to change a bank account to a savings account and you that just jogs your memory, that that's something that you had thought about that kind of thing, it might be that you've decided that you want to you know that your insurance, renewal has come in, and that you think it's a little bit on the high side. So you want to take the opportunity to do some price comparisons, that kind of thing, or utilities, comparisons or whatever that might be. But those things take time. And the time that you're sorting the paperwork out to try and get a nice filing system together is not the time to do that they need to be done afterwards. So for me, it would be kept in my in tray. And it would also go on to a list because I want the satisfaction of ticking things off a list.

Ingrid  18:31  
That's interesting, because I agree with you says most of my things indeed go on a list as well. And then I put them in my mt l folder where all my paperwork lives together. So I kind of almost have two reminders. I've got the paper reminder itself, and I've got my list and I like you. I like crossing it off my list as well. So I completely understand what you're saying, yeah, it's, you know, maybe you come across mot paperwork from your car and you think, oh gosh, I need to book an appointment for my mot. Or I need to register online. So I've been meaning to get my bank statements online and not anymore on paper. I want to do that but you're not going to do it there. And then we are setting up a filing system where you're sorting through piles of paper. So those kinds of things can all be put in a to do file or to do in tray to be done later.

Lesley  19:23  
And it really is a lovely thing to do that paperwork and it gives you great satisfaction doesn't it to gather all your thoughts on paper and write them down? Sometimes just making a plan is enough to give you that boost, isn't it? It's all about gathering the thoughts having a plan putting them down on paper and you know exactly what you've got to do. Same principles when you write a to do list when you're at work every day. This is what I've got to get done today. It's exactly the same thing. That's the project that I did want to gather my thoughts write it down and and I've got a systematic list that I can work through really, really important rather than having all these things scattered around in your in the ether somewhere.

Ingrid  19:58  
Yeah, yeah, for sure. So we've got to to do books, we've got an entree, great, we've got a maybe even a to do list with stuff. So it's not in our heads anymore, it will not be haunting our brain, we need to schedule time to do this, Lesley, this is not like, okay, it's great it is now in a box, it we actually need to action it. So that's, of course, the final step. And the final piece of the puzzle is to okay, I've got everything together now, when I'm going to do these jobs, because otherwise, they will still be waiting there to be done.

Lesley  20:36  
You're absolutely right, you need to get to the end point, we talk about this all the time, the cycle of decluttering. And going through and get, you know, going decluttering, organising storage, you've got to get to the end before you can enjoy. And before you can give yourself a pat on the back, that means that you've got to maintain that system and go around that cycle again, really, really important. So I think that to do list is going to be sometimes if it's a paperwork to do list, you can absolutely schedule, right, I'm going to schedule a morning, and I'm going to try and take some of these things off your list, you need to think about the timing of that as well. So Sunday afternoon, perhaps is not the best time to do a paperwork list, because all of the people that you need to contact won't be working probably. And so it probably needs to be midweek or you know, just think about that is there a is there a helpline up until eight o'clock at night, or don't do the close up at five o'clock, you know, those kinds of things need to be factored in. But if it's this kind of stuff, one that's probably going to be scattered as part of your other errands, isn't it. So it's unlikely that you're going to go to sisters to drop some stuff off, go to the DICOM. And you might be not mean but actually, you're going to probably maybe write down, maybe what you need to do is put a notification on your phone, if you are going to visit your sister to say don't forget to take this stuff that I've got to hand down to her or whatever that might be. Or if you know that you're going into town shopping on Tuesday afternoon, make sure you put a notification in your phone to say don't forget to take the library book back. So it might be that the do stuff bucks is scattered across lots of different days. Whereas the paperwork one probably needs a more concerted effort and time. And undoubtedly, within that paperwork, one, there will be things that are still not completed yet, because there'll be more actions. As a result, you've rang somebody to say that you want to do some price comparisons, and they're like, well, we'll send you a form out that you need to fill in or whatever. So it's not always finished there. And then

Ingrid  22:29  
yeah, and maybe if you have an extremely long to do list can motivate yourself by doing some of the shorter tasks, First, fill in the form online, register online, because you know, you can do that within a couple of minutes. And it's not a difficult task, and the list gets shorter. So you feel like, Oh, this is really good. Or maybe you realise you've got a really long list, but you're gonna go by priority, and you're gonna go, You know what, I know that I've got a lot of small bits to do. But there's one thing that actually requires several steps, it maybe even involves other people, or it's the most important one of the list. And that's what I'm going to focus on next. Because then at least I don't have to wait on my brain that I still haven't done it. So it really depends on the time you have and the priorities that you need to do. And indeed, with your to do books. If you know, maybe your next action is to look at your diary and go indeed, oh, I am going to town on Thursday. And I actually have an half an hour spare somewhere. So I can then pop into drycleaners go to the Mendes dropped the book. And I could do a little circle of those things together. So you can sort of group things together and move things on at the same time. And it's satisfying.

Lesley  23:48  
You know, I don't know anybody who doesn't get satisfaction from getting errands done, and ticking things off a list. I think that's a universal enjoyment, isn't it?

Ingrid  23:58  
Yeah. And I think it really helps you because you you I so agree with what you said. If it's unfinished, it is clutter, it is clutter in your house. And you know, deep down that there is something that you need to do something that you haven't done yet. And it's weighing on your brain. And I think when you start to actually do these actions, you start to create space in your brain to think about other things.

Lesley  24:26  
Yeah, so it's clutter in your house and clutter in your head, you know, isn't it? Same thing again, it's that kind of tidy desk, tidy mind, you know, all those things, and they're all so true, aren't they? It just gives you that clarity that you need to move forward. It's very satisfying. I can absolutely recommend it.

Ingrid  24:43  
Well, me too. I do love for lists as well. And we are working on a list today, aren't we Lesley we need to cross some of the tasks off to make sure that we keep steaming ahead in 2020 and getting it all done and yeah, I do like a little tick list and I can brush it off, I don't take it I actually crossed it through I love that

Lesley  25:04  
sounds very sounds quite threatening. I feel like the list is getting threatened by Ingrid scoring the outweigh the Vairo. Also, the people who use electronic lists as well, I use something called Wunderlist quite regularly, although to be fair, I have reverted back now to a paper list. Since my task list has got bigger, and we've got time, I haven't got the time to put it on wonder list and so many things to do. But the electronic versions of them do a little ding, you know, I think, you know, and so that's also quite satisfying to hear the dings going off as well. So anybody uses an electronic list that's quite cool. The nice thing about things like Wonder list, and there's loads and loads of different to do lists out there is that you can share lists as well with other people. That's quite nice. So I use that quite often with clients. And so if we, if we're doing a project together, they will write things someone to listen, I might take some stuff off, and they might take some stuff off. So there's benefits certainly in terms of sharing with using an electronic list. Hmm,

Ingrid  25:59  
maybe I should share a list with my, with my husband and I can give him Yes.

Lesley  26:05  
Clay complete. That's exactly what it's for delegation. Right on your to do list delegate tasks to my husband,

Ingrid  26:15  
to my kids, this is a very this is not a hotel, we all have to do things in this house. And they're like, oh, no, no, they're good. They're good. They're good to help. They help. Definitely. It's a team effort. That is absolutely true. You don't have to do everything yourself. So if you find stuff on your to do list, and you think to yourself, you know what, why do I have to do this delegate something people who live in your house do or maybe you can delegate it by outsourcing it to a cleaner or carpenter or whoever that you need to have the tasks done by you do not have to do everything yourself. And if you wonder why it's been on your to do list forever, maybe you should make the decision and just cross it off and go, I'm not going to do this. It's been on my to do list far too long. Why is it still on there? I'm not going to do this. Let's move on. Okay, let's leave. So, listeners, what are you going to do this weekend Are you maybe going to write down a to do list maybe that's what you need to do. And just started writing on all the things that are swirling around in your heads? And or maybe you are decluttering. And you're thinking to yourself, you know what, less than England, alright, I need to create a to do box. Because I've got loads of different little random things that need to be done, I need to create a to do box and that's going to help me take me to my next organising level. Or maybe you are doing a paperwork project and you think yourself, that sounds like a good idea. I'm going to create an inbox with all those things, paper wise that I want to do, and to get myself more sorted and organised. So we hope this episode was really helpful. And we really appreciate you listening and don't forget, we love to read your review. So if you enjoy this podcast, don't forget to write a review for us and tell us what you think about the show. If you'd like to get more tips and advice, please follow us on social media. We are on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook is at declutter hub, and we have a Facebook group where we check all things clutter, and you can find it under the declutter hub community. We'd love to see you there and take a look at members dot declutter hub.com To find out more about our membership. If you don't want to miss the next weekly episode, subscribe to the declutter hub podcast on Apple podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, and iHeartRadio. And it will pop into your notifications each Friday, or share with a friend or a colleague or a family member that you really enjoyed this podcast, and you think they should listen to so share our podcast details with other people. Thanks for listening. See you next time.

Outro  28:54  
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