The 3 Column Task List

When newfound motivation meets a growing list of 'have-tos' and 'need-tos,' the natural result is overwhelm.

Overwhelm stops us. It is our pause button, to protect us, to slow us down, to guard us from mistakes. When overwhelm fills our struggling students, it traps them, and holds their brain hostage..

It looks a lot like work avoidance or procrastination, and if we treat it as such we won’t get very far.

The 3 Column Task List

This strategy manually organizes and places tasks in and out of sight, so as to narrow our struggling student’s scope of focus. It is a simple method for organizing tasks by urgency rather than importance.

Urgency is not always clear to struggling students, and importance alone does not motivate.

Try this instead.

Column 1: "Now"

These tasks must be completed today, before sleep—no exceptions. This should be the shortest list, with 2-4 items max.

Pro Tip: These tasks need to be out in the open…place papers out, keep browser tabs open, or write these tasks on a sticky note that stays in full view until the tasks are finished.

Column 2: "Next"

These tasks are important, perhaps even overdue, but they are not for 'right now.' This list should be short also, but longer than the NOW group.

Pro Tip: These papers are placed out of sight, and within reach (like the backpack). Websites/apps stay bookmarked shortcuts on the screen (but not open tabs in the browser).

Column 3: "Maybe Later"

These tasks are also important but not urgent. I also include the 'want-tos' in this list. These are the tasks that often derail productivity because they are more interesting and less stressful than the NOW and NOT NOW items. This list should be the longest list, by far.

Pro Tip: These papers go out of sight. These websites/apps get closed without bookmarks. That’s right, none saved. These can be remembered in list form only.

Essentially, tasks are strategically grouped (and placed) in order to bring forward the items to work on now, and pull away the tasks that should not be an immediate focus. This reduces the visual noise, thereby decreasing the overwhelm.

Was this helpful?

Consider grabbing the free resource below while getting a new shiny strategy every week.