1.  Notepad or Notebook.  To reiterate a point from last month's article, in order to realistically prioritize everything you need or want to do, your to-do's should be written down (or typed) and tracked together.  Tracking your to-do's by type (personal, business, volunteer, home, etc.) is easy with a 3 to 5 subject notebook.

2.  Calendar/Planner System.  To-Do's that are date specific should be tracked in your calendar or planner system, whether that be a paper calendar or a PDA.  If you need to get something done on a specific day, tie the to-do to that day (even better - schedule time during your day to complete it).  Some to-do's can be tracked within a certain week or even within a certain month.  Tickler file systems are also a great tool for holding paper related to your to-do's, as well as notes to yourself for reminder and follow-up. Most computer-based or online calendars have task lists or to-do lists tied to them.  For example, you can customize the task list in Microsoft Outlook to fit your needs.  If you use iGoogle to manage your day, they offer a ToDo List gadget that lets you add your tasks, highlight them in different colors, change their order, and strikethrough or delete tasks that are done. MyYahoo offers a similar add-on.

3.  Online To-Do Lists.  The main benefits of online to-do lists is that they can be accessed anywhere you have internet capability and can be easily shared with others. There are many, many online options for to-do lists and all offer various levels of set-up, prioritizing, tracking and add-ons.  One thing to keep in mind with all online tools is that they may "go away" in a moments notice.  Be sure to choose one that you feel will stay for the long haul, or back up your list in another way (print or download, if possible).  Following are a few options to get you started:

www.rememberthemilk.com: A simple tool, uses color coding.

www.SimpleGTD.com: Use if you follow David Allen's 'Getting Things Done' methodology (discussed in last month's article).

www.gootodo.com: Allows you to assign to-do's to certain days so that you only see what is relevant for that day.  You can forward to-do's and assign emails to future days to coordinate email with your task list.  (Email management is a HUGE topic for another day but note that some to-do list programs will allow this coordination if that is important to you.)

www.tadalist.com: Create your to-do list and share it with others.  The creator of tadalist, www.37signals.com, also offers other collaborative tools which go beyond the simple to-do list, offering a place to share ideas, files, calendars and larger project management -  a good option for teams that need to centralize and share information.

You may find that a combination of the systems above works best for you. It may take some time and effort to find the system that works best for you, but it will be well worth it in the end as you find yourself focusing better, using your time more wisely, being more productive and feeling less stress.  And who could argue with those results!