How do you know what is on your to-do list? Do you keep checklists on your phone or on the fridge? How do you update/check them during the day? What about tasks that require communicating with others, often over email? Managing your to-do list is essential so that you can be considered reliable and dependable. If there are two individuals: one who Gets Things Done and one who Does Not, which will have a better professional reputation and be able to progress through life more successfully? There are dozens of task management systems, but I believe there is one which is easy, free, readily available, and highly functional: your email account.
Using your email as your to-do list makes it accessible. You can access it via your phone, laptop, desktop computer. When I am at work, I have a window with my inbox open at all times so I can see incoming messages and handle them appropriately. I can see at a glance who is involved in the messages and what the last date on a task was. Gmail (and most other email systems) creates threads so I can keep track of all the messages related to that topic.
Some people use different folders to manage their to-do list, rather than their inbox. This is fine; it’s the principle which matters. I keep a folder of ‘awaiting response’ messages, because it is shocking to me how often I send out an email and never hear back from someone who should have responded. I also keep folders like ‘Personal’, ‘Professional’, and ‘Karate’ to hold important messages to which I need to refer back for long periods of time.
The goal is to achieve Zero Inbox because that means I have taken care of all the tasks I am currently responsible for. Once I achieve that goal, then I know I can move on to starting new projects. This keeps me from getting overwhelmed and over-committing.
Be sure if you use this system to make an email account which is NOT the one you have at your institution. You will move on one day (if a student) or you may not be there forever, and many institutions drop your email account once you leave.
You don’t have to use this exact system, but I want you do engage in the principle. You need to keep track of what you are responsible for and act to take care of things for which you are responsible. Don’t be one of those people who gets tasks and never takes care of them. You will not be well-regarded professionally and it will definitely adversely affect your professional progression.