20 Practical & Useful Lists To Stay Organized

Today I want to share with you my list of lists! Yes, you read that right. I have a list of lists, lol. But, these are lists you will actually use. These are the most useful lists to stay organized.

If you are like me, then you are on a mission to achieve your goals and dreams. And that starts with staying focused and staying on track. Making lists is one way to do that.

desk with pens paper watch notebooks; 20 lists to get your life organized right now

Keeping different lists can help you:

  • organize all of your thoughts in one place
  • help you remember things
  • help you to plan out your schedule

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The Problem With To-Do Lists

But having one major to-do list that you just keep adding more and more things to isn’t so helpful. Why? Because it gets overwhelming. Things just sit on there that you haven’t done, and probably will never do and you just keep piling more things to do on top of it.

The Solution

What is helpful is to divide and conquer that to-do list. Separate all of those tasks into different lists and then keep your lists all in one place. 

When I set up my planner, I decided to have a separate section just for my lists, instead of trying to keep them in with the current week or month. It just seemed easier than having to flip around to get to the right list. Now I can go to my section of lists and add to them. 

Figure out what works best for you. Decide where the best place is to keep all of your lists: perhaps your phone, a notebook, or your planner. If you use The Happy Planner or are interested in it, they have several different list options that you can add to your planner.

colorful striped clipboard, list and pencil; 20 useful lists to stay organized

Don’t Forget To Prioritize

After you make your lists, make sure to prioritize them. This is especially helpful for your to-do lists. You want to make sure you get your most important tasks done. So they should be at the top of your list and done first. 

Ruth Soukup of Living Well Spending Less, does a great job of teaching this. She has a great system to prioritize your tasks so that you are always working towards achieving your goals. You can check it out here.

20 Lists You Can Use Everyday

  1. Master To-Do List – a running list of general things you need to do or get done, that don’t have any other list to go on.
  2. Weekly To-Do List- At the beginning of each week, plan out what things you need to accomplish that week. 
  3. Daily To-Do List- Each morning, look at your weekly to-do list and decide what things you need to get accomplished for that day. 
  4. Grocery list
  5. Meal planning list/meals for the week
  6. Favorite recipes/Go-to meals
  7. Monthly bills to be paid 
  8. Expense list- upcoming things that you need to pay for other than the regular monthly bills
  9. Things to buy- this could possibly be added onto the grocery list, but it could also be other things you need or want
  10. Home Improvement Projects- things you want to work on around the house, things that need to get fixed, etc. 
  11. Honey do list- things you need your significant other to help you out with
     
  12. Weekly cleaning list
  13. Birthday list- keep track of everyone’s birthdays
  14. Christmas gift ideas list
  15. Fun things to do- keep a running list of some fun things to go do, new places you want to take the kids, upcoming events, etc.
  16. Restaurants to try- Have you ever had this conversation? “What do you want to eat?” “I don’t know. What do you want to eat?” Yes, we’ve all been there, and it’s a horrible, vicious cycle, lol. Well, now you know because you can pull out your list of restaurants you’ve been wanting to try and pick one!
  17. Prayer list
  18. Kids school assignments/homework
  19. Goals list- don’t forget about you and your big ideas. Writing down your big goals and ideas helps you to make them into a reality!
  20. Hobby list- this is for you to keep track of whatever you like to do. Things like books to read, movies to see, places to travel, craft ideas, etc. 

These are practical, everyday things that come up for most people. Pick and choose which lists work for you and your situation, or use them all! Keep yourself organized and on track toward hitting those goals with your new lists.

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grocery list, expense tracker, menu planner list, bills list. 20 practical and useful lists to stay organized