The List is the Thing

I'm a list person. I'm proud of it. People have actually laughed at my lists from time to time, but I stand behind them in support of myself and in support of being organized, productive and successful!

From a personal perspective, I need to have a list when I go out shopping (especially if I'm going to more than one store!).

I don't particularly like to shop, so I just tend to go out to get specifically what I need and then get back home. If I forget to get something, it's a big production to get back out to get it, so I always make sure to make a list of what I need to get so I make the best of my time.

From a business perspective, making lists is a big part of being organized in your business.

I make a task list every morning so that I know what I will be working on during the day. It's good to be able to see how things are going to shape up, and it also helps you to juggle your schedule if you need to accommodate something new (or if something goes wrong).

I also make a checklist for repetitive tasks that I take care of, like virtual event set up, for instance. When you first get started, it's important to make sure that you don't forget any steps when you are taking care of something for a client. But when you have been doing the task regularly for a long time, it's even more important to follow a checklist. I find that if I try to rely on my memory for something that I have done many times over, it's then that I might forget something.

If you don't work with checklists on a regular basis, I highly recommend that you start doing so.

There are a lot of different ways you can set yourself up with this kind of organization:

Pen and Paper. This is my favourite kind of list - I am a tangible person, and I like to be able to write on it and cross things off when they are done. It's not suitable for everything you need to do, but for the basics, I still find it the easiest and most effective way.

App or Online Tasklist. If you use your smartphone or tablet for work, you can download apps to help keep yourself organized and on task. Evernote or Toodledo are pretty popular, though there are many. You can also find project list software online that might work for you as well - TaDa and Remember the Milk are getting good reviews these days.

Spreadsheet or Google Doc. This is a sharable list that you can use with clients or team members. By setting up a main spreadsheet and then using it with Dropbox or Google Doc or some other file sharing application, you can put everyone's responsibilities on it and keep everyone up to date with project progress.

Collaboration Software. If you do a lot of collaborating with clients or team members (or clients' teams), a collaboration software is probably a good idea. Many of them have the ability to set up checklists right in them, and you can just check off your open tasks as you complete them, leaving only your unfinished tasks open. A couple of pretty popular collaborative software systems are Basecamp and ClientSpot, though there are also free options with services like Manymoon that might suit your needs.

Whichever method you choose, just make sure it works for you. Systems are only good for you if you use them, and it's important to find something that you can be more productive with. Organization is a big part of being able to run your own business and work with multiple people, so you want to be sure that you are giving yourself every opportunity to do that easily!