I’ve by no means had a lot luck with to-do lists. As a self-professed (and, let’s be sincere, not-so-recovering) perfectionist, seeing a mountain of unaccomplished duties on the finish of the day would ship me right into a spiral. My Notes app was a graveyard of forgotten duties—an ever-expanding checklist that, paradoxically, solely appeared to develop. However then I discovered the Two-Listing Rule. Out of the blue, I wasn’t drowning in to-dos. I used to be truly getting issues performed.
The Two-Listing Rule has been my saving grace. It’s a way of organizing duties into two classes: “must-do” and “nice-to-do.” This method helps you concentrate on the necessities, launch the guilt, and keep away from burnout—whereas nonetheless making area for pleasure. It’s a method of distinguishing between the stuff you completely have to do proper now and the duties you will get to later. The Two-Listing Rule helps you make clear your focus, prioritize successfully, and finally convey steadiness to the ambition-and-rest battle. As a result of step one in balancing these two is realizing what actually issues.
The Drawback with Conventional To-Do Lists
All of us have so much to do. Finish cease. In a world that glorifies busyness, our to-do lists have morphed into an limitless scroll—work deadlines combined with grocery runs, inventive desires buried underneath admin duties. It’s no marvel we really feel continuously behind.
However the issue isn’t simply the sheer variety of duties—it’s that we lump all the pieces collectively with out distinction. Work deadlines sit alongside grocery lists. Private targets, like lastly beginning that e book membership, get buried underneath physician’s appointments and tax prep. This “everything-at-once” method makes it inconceivable to know the place to begin, so we both try and do all of it (howdy, burnout) or keep away from the checklist altogether (cue guilt). And once we inevitably don’t examine off each field, we really feel like we’ve failed, even when we spent your entire day being productive. It’s a system designed for disappointment.
This technique additionally helps launch the stress of unrealistic productiveness, permitting area for relaxation, creativity, and the issues that make life really feel good—not simply productive.
What’s the Two-Listing Rule?
At its core, the Two-Listing Rule is about reducing by means of the noise and specializing in what actually issues. As an alternative of a unending scroll of to-dos, this technique helps you set up your duties into two clear classes:
Should-Do: These are the non-negotiable duties that both transfer you nearer to your targets or assist preserve steadiness in your life. Assume: ending a piece deadline, choosing up your baby from faculty, or paying the electrical energy invoice. If it instantly impacts your well-being, duties, or priorities, it belongs right here.
Good-to-Do: These duties nonetheless maintain worth, however they don’t have to occur at present—and even this week. Organizing your closet, experimenting with a brand new recipe, or deep-diving into inbox group all go right here. If there’s further time or power, nice. If not, no guilt.
Why does it work?
By giving your mind a transparent construction, the Two-Listing Rule helps lower down on overwhelm and resolution fatigue. As an alternative of gazing a sea of duties with no clear place to begin, you’ll be able to instantly establish what wants your consideration first. This technique additionally helps launch the stress of unrealistic productiveness, permitting area for relaxation, creativity, and the issues that make life really feel good—not simply productive.
Use the Two-Listing Rule
Utilizing the Two-Listing Rule is straightforward—and that’s the great thing about it. As an alternative of getting misplaced in an awesome, catch-all to-do checklist, this technique helps you prioritize with intention. Right here’s easy methods to do it:
Mind Dump Your Duties. Begin by writing down all the pieces you want (or need) to do for the day or week. No filtering but, simply get all of it out.
Type Into Two Lists. Undergo your checklist and categorize every job:
Should-Do: Time-sensitive, high-priority duties that transfer the needle (e.g., submitting a piece venture, scheduling a health care provider’s appointment, choosing up groceries).
Good-to-Do: Duties that may be nice to perform however aren’t pressing (e.g., decluttering your closet, making an attempt a brand new recipe, catching up on emails).
Sort out the Should-Do Listing First. Concentrate on finishing these important duties first, giving your self the satisfaction of actual progress.
Revisit the Good-to-Do Listing—With out Guilt. In case you have further time or power, nice! If not, these duties can wait. No stress, no disgrace.
Professional Tip: Hold your Should-Do checklist lifelike. In the event you overload it, you’ll find yourself proper again the place you began—overwhelmed and exhausted. Prioritization is vital. For instance, final Monday, my Should-Do checklist included ending an article draft and reserving a vet appointment. My Good-to-Do checklist? Deep-cleaning my fridge and eventually responding to a gaggle chat. Guess which one needed to wait.
The Advantages of the Two-Listing Rule
Lowered Stress: You’ll really feel extra in management and fewer overwhelmed by all the pieces in your plate.
Guilt-Free Productiveness: The Good-to-Do checklist permits for the flexibleness to loosen up with out guilt, realizing you’re prioritizing what issues.
Area for Pleasure: When duties are damaged down into clear classes, you create room for unplanned moments of pleasure and relaxation.
Work-Life Steadiness: Helps preserve that ever-elusive steadiness between productiveness and private time.
How I’ve Used the Two-Listing Rule in My Life
For years, my to-do lists felt like an limitless, ever-expanding beast. I wasn’t obsessive about productiveness for productiveness’s sake, however I longed for a way of ease—a method to transfer by means of my days with path as a substitute of diving headfirst right into a swirling mess of obligations. I needed to belief that what I used to be prioritizing truly mattered, quite than simply ticking off duties for the sake of feeling achieved.
At 30, I don’t have children or a accomplice, however my life continues to be full. My friendships, my work, my cats (who, let’s be sincere, require loads of consideration), and my inventive hobbies all demand power. After which there’s one in every of my favourite roles: being an aunt. I wish to be current for my nieces and nephew, displaying up for the massive and small moments alike. However when all the pieces seems like a precedence, how do you determine what truly is? That’s the place the Two-Listing Rule modified issues for me. Separating what actually have to be performed from what could be good to do gave me a framework to method my days with readability. I began recognizing the duties that moved my targets ahead—whether or not in work, relationships, or private development—and discovered to let go of the guilt round the remaining.
Now, as a substitute of feeling stretched skinny, I can concentrate on what actually issues, like making time for FaceTime calls with my niece, deepening my friendships, and deliberately rising my profession.
The Takeaway
I (and plenty of others) love and stay by the Two-Listing Rule due to its ease. By breaking duties into must-do and nice-to-do classes, you are taking the stress off your self to perform all the pieces without delay. As an alternative of feeling paralyzed by an awesome checklist, you achieve readability. You concentrate on what actually strikes the needle whereas releasing the guilt of what can wait.
Attempt the Two-Listing Rule tomorrow. Write down your duties and break up them into must-do and nice-to-do. You would possibly discover that doing much less helps you get extra of the precise issues performed. Keep in mind, true productiveness isn’t about doing all of it. It’s about doing what issues most.
