We’ve all got a task list.

Even people who don’t think they do, or simply don’t like the idea of having lists of things they need to work on.

They’ve got a to-do list too, but it’s all jumbled up in their head like a 1000-piece jigsaw without a picture on the box to show you how everything fits together.

Most people are somewhere in between.

So then the next question is how useful is it?

• Does it make it easy to find what you want when you want it?
• Is it comprehensive? (Or do find yourself remembering things you haven’t done at random times in random places when you can’t do anything about them?)
• Can you pick anything from your list and “just do it” without having to figure out what the heck you meant three weeks ago when you wrote down “invoice client” or “get birthday card”?
• Is it achievable? Does it give you a game you know you can win every day or is it an overwhelming never-ending list of drudgery?

In case you’re wondering, yes, it’s definitely possible to have a comprehensive task list without it being overwhelming.

These are a few of the diagnostic questions I ask new clients about their task list, whether they’ve got one or not. It gives me a good picture of where they’re at.

If you’re not answering yes to these questions about the current state of your task list, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that it’s making your life harder and more stressful than it needs to be.

Please stop trying to mentally keep track of all the myriad bits and pieces that make up your business jigsaw.

Get everything on your task list so it’s all as easy to follow as a recipe from your favourite cookery book, and then you can invest all your cognitive resources into doing the work you want to do.