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-Checklist Rule. All of a sudden, I wasn’t drowning in to-dos. I used to be really getting issues accomplished.
The Two-Checklist Rule has been my saving grace. It’s a way 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 approach of distinguishing between the stuff you completely have to do proper now and the duties you will get to later. The Two-Checklist Rule helps you make clear your focus, prioritize successfully, and in the end convey steadiness to the ambition-and-rest wrestle. As a result of step one in balancing these two is realizing what actually issues.
The Drawback with Conventional To-Do Lists
All of us have loads to do. Finish cease. In a world that glorifies busyness, our to-do lists have morphed into an countless scroll—work deadlines blended with grocery runs, artistic goals buried beneath admin duties. It’s no marvel we really feel consistently behind.
However the issue isn’t simply the sheer variety of duties—it’s that we lump every thing collectively with out distinction. Work deadlines sit alongside grocery lists. Private objectives, 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 once we inevitably don’t verify off each field, we really feel like we’ve failed, even when we spent your complete day being productive. It’s a system designed for disappointment.
This technique 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-Checklist Rule?
At its core, the Two-Checklist Rule is about chopping by way of the noise and specializing in what actually issues. As an alternative of a endless scroll of to-dos, this technique 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 objectives or assist keep steadiness in your life. Assume: ending a piece deadline, selecting up your youngster 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 now—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 further time or vitality, nice. If not, no guilt.
Why does it work?
By giving your mind a transparent construction, the Two-Checklist Rule helps reduce down on overwhelm and determination fatigue. As an alternative of watching a sea of duties with no clear start line, you may instantly establish what wants your consideration first. This technique 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.
Learn how to Use the Two-Checklist Rule
Utilizing the Two-Checklist Rule is easy—and that’s the great thing about it. As an alternative of getting misplaced in an awesome, catch-all to-do listing, this technique helps you prioritize with intention. Right here’s the best way to do it:
Mind Dump Your Duties. Begin by writing down every thing you want (or need) to do for the day or week. No filtering but, simply get all of it out.
Kind Into Two Lists. Undergo your listing and categorize every process:
Should-Do: Time-sensitive, high-priority duties that transfer the needle (e.g., submitting a piece mission, scheduling a physician’s appointment, selecting up groceries).
Good-to-Do: Duties that may be nice to perform however aren’t pressing (e.g., decluttering your closet, attempting a brand new recipe, catching up on emails).
Sort out the Should-Do Checklist First. Concentrate on finishing these important duties first, giving your self the satisfaction of actual progress.
Revisit the Good-to-Do Checklist—With out Guilt. When you have further time or vitality, nice! If not, these duties can wait. No stress, no disgrace.
Professional Tip: Maintain your Should-Do listing reasonable. In the event you overload it, you’ll find yourself proper again the place you began—overwhelmed and exhausted. Prioritization is essential. 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 at last responding to a gaggle chat. Guess which one needed to wait.
The Advantages of the Two-Checklist Rule
Decreased Stress: You’ll really feel extra in management and fewer overwhelmed by every thing in your plate.
Guilt-Free Productiveness: The Good-to-Do listing permits for the pliability to loosen up with out guilt, realizing 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 steadiness between productiveness and private time.
How I’ve Used the Two-Checklist Rule in My Life
For years, my to-do lists felt like an countless, ever-expanding beast. I wasn’t obsessive about productiveness for productiveness’s sake, however I longed for a way of ease—a method to transfer by way of my days with route as an alternative of diving headfirst right into a swirling mess of obligations. I wished to belief that what I used to be prioritizing really mattered, fairly than simply ticking off duties for the sake of feeling completed.
At 30, I don’t have children or a accomplice, 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 vitality. After which there’s one among my favourite roles: being an aunt. I wish to be current for my nieces and nephew, displaying up for the large and small moments alike. However when every thing appears like a precedence, how do you resolve what really is? That’s the place the Two-Checklist Rule modified issues for me. Separating what actually have to be accomplished from what can be good to do gave me a framework to strategy my days with readability. I began recognizing the duties that moved my objectives ahead—whether or not in work, relationships, or private progress—and realized to let go of the guilt round the remaining.
Now, as an alternative of feeling stretched skinny, I can concentrate on what actually 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 reside by the Two-Checklist 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 every thing without delay. As an alternative of feeling paralyzed by an awesome listing, you acquire readability. You concentrate on what actually strikes the needle whereas releasing the guilt of what can wait.
Strive the Two-Checklist Rule tomorrow. Write down your duties and cut up them into must-do and nice-to-do. You would possibly discover that doing much less helps you get extra of the best issues accomplished. Bear in mind, true productiveness isn’t about doing all of it. It’s about doing what issues most.
