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Photo : Respiro ( Shutterstock ) A to-do list is probably one of the most common strategies for keeping track of tasks and goals. But the problem with long and overly ambitious to-do lists is that they can overwhelm us with how much there is to accomplish, leaving us struggling to prioritize or even knowing where to start. A long list can also increase our desire to multitask, ultimately making us less productive . Here’s how to make a short, sweet— and effective— to-do list. How long should a to-do list be? A good to-do list (or set of lists) has anywhere from five to ten tasks on it—and no more than a dozen in total. While there is no magic number, research suggests that we may struggle to make decisions when presented with more options than that. One strategy is to make a list of five to eight work-related (or school- or family-) tasks to accomplish for the day with a separate list of two to three chores or personal tasks. Categorizing separately can reduce confusion and help...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Most of us readily recognize the value of time management. If you master your timing and productivity, you can spend less time on your most important tasks — and eliminate some tasks entirely. You might expect that entrepreneurs are typically quite good with time management because they get so much active practice prioritizing and considering how they spend time on a daily basis. But in reality, time management is a skill most entrepreneurs struggle with. Why is this the case, and what can you do about it? The practical applications of time management Let's start by discussing why time management is so important for entrepreneurs to develop. Project management. Time management is crucial to most types of project and campaign management. If you have six weeks to complete a project, you need to make the most of each week. If you have six milestones to hit, one week at a time, you need to actively m...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. "My Fixation on Time Management Almost Broke Me" The above title is one of the most honest and striking stories I read in 2021. Not because it was controversial or revealed something deeply surprising, but because it affirmed a long-held belief I've been a proponent of. The article was penned by Harvard Business Education contributor Abbie J. Shipp and spoke to how managing one's time well isn't about discovering new time hacks, but learning better practices that won't jeopardize one's health. She writes: "In 2019, I hit a wall. To the outside observer, my career was successful, my family was happy and I seemed to be living the dream. What people didn't know, however, was that I was struggling with chronic insomnia, malnourishment, a pinched nerve in my neck and a wicked hormonal imbalance," she adds with candor. "I would later discover that, ironica...

Candidates might love the current job market. As for recruiters ? Not so much. Calendar - Calendar The reason is the increasing workload . The problem is that there are more openings to fill, more candidates to meet with, and more requests to process. Furthermore, talent acquisition specialists must wear multiple hats with short staff because of a shortage of recruiters . If you’re a recruiter swamped with tasks, what do you do? The answer isn’t to work more hours . Besides making you less productive, working too many hours would affect your well-being and personal life. Rather than spending your time at work inefficiently, make better use of it. But what exactly does that? To begin with, it means choosing which tasks to jump right into, which ones to delay, and which ones to put on hold. “Understanding the process of prioritizing tasks can help you get through your never-ending to-do list,” says...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. A few weeks ago, I got into an interesting discussion on LinkedIn about the value of meetings. The exchange started with this post , wherein I broke down the cost of a 90-minute meeting I'd just sat through. By prorating the salaries of everyone involved, I calculated that the hour and a half we spent cost our company $1,826. Then, I asked the person who ran it if he thought it was worth the money. We didn't have that meeting again. In the post's numerous comments, some people agreed with me and proposed things like including the cost of a meeting in each invite. Others mentioned how they'd made similar calculations while consulting, and quoted some astronomical annual costs for their companies. A notable comment cohort wasn't quite as big on my cost-counting idea, however, and pointed out that putting a dollar amount on everything we do was a "1950s way of thinking," an...