If you are like me, your to do lists range from using your email inbox to using sticky notes.

I don’t have to tell you that none of those work very well.  In search of a better option to help organize, we started using Basecamp by 37 signals.  There are other GTD (Get things done) applications, but we use this for our business communication so it was natural to use it for daily organization and personal organization.

I started with creating a personal project…these are personal items I need to do, i.e. get the oil changed, take my daughter out on a date, you get the point.  From here, I can create To-do lists daily…and anything left from the previous days list I can move to the new list for today and then prioritize the to-do items.

This gives me rolling to-do lists and I can see what’s been carried over from last week and what’s new.  I can organize them by priority or when something is due by setting a milestone.  Each morning, I create a to-do list for the day and fill it based on appointments, emails, previous to-do lists, project tasks, or obstacles any of our programming teams are facing.  This let’s me see everything that needs done and let’s me choose what’s most important and get it done first.

In addition, I can also use Basecamp to track time for each item…I haven’t found a really good use for that yet with my personal lists, but I’m sure I will.

Remember to stay organized > stay efficient > make progress in business and your personal life.