Some people say they don’t need to write a to-do list, they can remember everything they need to do for the day.

Maybe they can. Maybe they have just 3 or 4 things they need to do and they do pretty much the same things every day.

But most people are busier than that.

Can you remember all of the calls you need to return tomorrow? Do you know what your email inbox will bring, which new cases or clients will show up, which issues you will have to deal with?

Every day may be basically the same, but every day is different. And if you don’t write things down, you won’t remember.

The value of a written list, however, isn’t just the list itself. The value is in the process of making the list.

Writing a to-do list forces you to think about your goals and obligations and choose your priorities for the day or week. Thinking and writing leads to clarity and clarity leads to commitment, and what good is a goal or obligation if you’re not committed?

Writing things down also decreases anxiety. You know what you will do that day, and what you won’t do. You know you won’t forget something important, or be overwhelmed with too many boxes to tick.

You’ve already thought things through and you can focus on execution.

When do you make this list? You make it before your day (or week) begins. When the current day is over and you are no longer “executing,” you plan the following day. Give yourself ten minutes each afternoon or evening to review your calendar and your other lists and decide what you want tomorrow to look like.

And write that down.

Now, here’s the million dollar secret to making your list work for you instead of the other way around.

When tomorrow begins and you’re working your way through your list and calls and emails and letters come in, when you remember other things you need to do, don’t do them.

Write them down on the list for tomorrow or later in the week or next week.

You have a list for today. Work on that list today.

If you finish today’s list and you have time, you can look at tomorrow’s list and start working on it. But only if you want to.

It’s your decision. Your list works for you, not the other way around.

Schedule large blocks of time for deep work, we’re told. An hour or 90 minutes a day to work on our most important projects and do things that require focus and concentration.

But our work doesn’t always allow us to schedule large blocks of time. Not consistently, anyway. Our days are often fragmented with appointments and calls and other work that needs to be done as and when it needs to be done.

The good news is that you can get a lot of work done in the spaces between calls and appointments.

Throughout the day, as you go from one task to another, there are many unused chunks of time. We often waste that time, telling ourselves there isn’t enough of it to do something meaningful.

Sure, you need breaks. Time to clear your mind, think, or get another cuppa. But don’t assume you can’t also do something valuable when you only have a few minutes.

You’ve got ten minutes until the next appointment? Make a few calls and leave messages (since most people don’t pick up these days). Write the first draft of an important email, or bang out one or two-word replies to several emails. Highlight key paragraphs in a pdf or organize your notes from a recent meeting.

You’ve got five minutes? How about brainstorming a few ideas for your next article or post, or doing a quick edit of your last one?

In five minutes, you might review a file you haven’t looked at in a while and dictate instructions to your staff. Check your email and clear out the spam. Or skim a few saved articles and decide which ones to read next, when you have another five minutes.

Five minutes here, ten minutes there, and you might get a lot done. Maybe enough to let you block out time for deep work.

My calendar is set to remind me about appointments, meetings, and other time-specific activities, but I don’t use reminders for anything else.

I check my task app, see what I’ve planned for the day, and do it. If I’m not sure about something, the app is only a click away.

I’ve also turned off most push notifications.

I don’t need or want to be reminded about everything in my life. Too many beeps and buzzes and pop-ups—it’s annoying. And distracting when you’re trying to concentrate.

“I’m in the middle of my skin care routine! Thank you for reminding me to take out the garbage, but go away!”

I also don’t like the idea of depending on reminders.

What if they fail? What if I don’t see the reminder? What if I’ve become immune to those pop-ups and beeps and alarms and ignore the little bastards?

I prefer self-reliance, not app-reliance.

I know, some people depend on reminders to gete them through their day. It’s like they’re back in school, waiting for the bell before they go to their next class.

Some folks are addicted. Their watches and phones are their overseers, constantly telling them what to do, when and where, and if they don’t do it, they nag them until they do.

I don’t want to be nagged, do you?

Here’s the thing.

We generally don’t forget to do things we want to do. We don’t need to be reminded to watch our favorite show, play our favorite game, or do the horizontal hokey-pokey.

It’s the chores, the errands, and the work we don’t want to do we find easy to forget, and for those, reminders might help.

So use reminders if and when they serve you, but not for everything.

When I drive by the grocery store, I don’t need my phone to remind me to get pickles.

It’s on my list, okay? (I just need to remember to check my list.)