The Easiest Way to Keep Track of Daily Tasks (My Daily To-Do List)

Do you have tasks that you’re supposed to do daily, but you often find yourself forgetting?  Taking your daily vitamin… meditating… pulling meat out of the freezer to cook the next day?

Do you have tasks that you have to do once a week on a particular day that are even more impossible to remember?  Watering your plants on Wednesday… signing your child’s weekly school folder on Monday… reminding your kids to wear spirit wear to school on Friday, meal planning for the week ahead on Sunday?

Running a household and a family is a ton of work, and I’ve found that if I don’t have keep detailed lists for everything that needs to get done, then I will most definitely drop the ball on something.  You would think that daily tasks shouldn’t be that hard to remember, but when you’re the keeper of all the things for all the family members, it’s, in fact, very easy to forget some of the simplest things, even the ones you do every day. 

Last year, I decided I was tired of keeping track of so many things in my head, so I decided to figure out the best way to organize all of my daily and weekly tasks.  The result has been life-changing, and my brain has felt so much less cluttered since then.  I also haven’t forgotten to take a vitamin in months.  ;o)

To organize all of our daily and weekly tasks, I simply created a list in my phone with all of the tasks that I have to do on a daily and weekly basis.  Before I get into the details in the list, I want to mention that I downloaded the List Master app about six or seven years ago and I have used it religiously since then.  It houses all of my perpetual lists – grocery lists, toiletry lists, gift lists, etc. – and now it also houses my daily to-do list.  The app is $9.99, which is a bit pricey for an app, but it has been worth its weight in gold since I use mine so much... I use it multiple times per day every single day of the week.  And I will also go ahead and mention that this post is not sponsored in any way… I just love sharing things that make my life easier!  But List Master, if you see this post and you want to collaborate, HOLLA!  ;o)

As for the list itself – I created a new list titled “To Do Daily” in my List Master app, and inside that list, I typed out every single thing that I do on a daily basis.  Originally, I only listed the tasks that I had trouble remembering, but ultimately, I decided to include ALL tasks I do on a daily basis, so the list could serve as a daily rhythm.  I have all of the tasks in chronological order (even though some vary depending on the day), because that makes it easier for me to remember when I need to do the tasks. 

My Daily List contains the following tasks:

Get ready

Meditate/quiet time/affirmations

Make bed

Kids breakfast/dress/hair/teeth/potty (helps me remember everything they need to do in the morning so I can double check that they did, in fact, do those things)

Breakfast/fill up water

Finish packing lunches

Unload dishwasher

Vitamins/oils for all

Devotional/meditate with kids

Load car (me) – purse/water/keys/phone/mask (this serves as a little checklist in itself so I don’t walk out the door and leave something important behind – masks, I’m looking at you!)

Load car (kids) – bookbags/lunches/thermoses/masks (and this one serves as the checklist for the kids so they don’t forget anything)

Drop kids at school

Work out/shower

50 crunches (I added this last month since I made a goal to do 50 crunches daily)

Water outdoor plants

OOTD picture (I take daily pictures of my outfits for my monthly What I Wore blog posts, and some days I was forgetting to take the picture)

Close out planner from previous day (move tasks that weren’t accomplished to the next day)

Look at planner current day

Post to-do list in Instagram Stories (I used to post these daily, but stopped when I had to start facilitating virtual learning… I need to start again!)

Blog linkups/Facebook post/Pinterest pin (things I do daily to promote my blog posts)

Blog (write posts, take and edit pics, and make sure post is ready to go for the next day)

Read blogs

Emails

Lunch/refill water

One Second a Day – take video (I just started using the 1 Second a Day app so I can have a video of our year at the end of this year)

Load car – baseball/ballet/snacks (reminder of what to bring when we have after school activities)

Pick up kids

Kids use hand sanitizer in car (this is only on here because of Covid – haha)

Kids bookbags/shoes/uniforms off (bc Covid – don’t want germs around the house)

Kids wash hands/snacks

Kids homework (assignments/study/read)

Kids outdoor time

Diffuser/music on

Empty bookbags/lunchboxes

Unload dishwasher (this is on here twice because most mornings I don’t empty the whole thing and I have to finish up in the afternoon)

Wash freezer packs (the ones that go in the kids’ lunchboxes)

Wash thermoses

Fill thermoses

Pack lunches

Pack snacks

Pack masks

Cook/eat/clean

Meat out of freezer for next day (because don’t we ALL constantly forget to do this?!)

Family time/outdoor walk

Pick out outfit for tomorrow

Kids shower/teeth/read/bed

Instagram post

One Second a Day – upload video

Hang with B/watch TV

Ready for bed/take allergy meds/oils

Clear out this list for tomorrow (I’m laughing at this one because it sounds so silly, but it’s so nice to remember to do this each evening so it’s ready to go first thing in the morning… mornings are already crazy enough!)

 

So that was my main DAILY list, and in addition to that main daily list, I also have one folder for each day of the week (Monday – Sunday) to list tasks that have to be done on a specific day of the week.  There aren’t many tasks in each of those, though.  Here are a few examples…

Monday’s list contains the following tasks:

Laundry

Sign Jacob’s weekly folder

Wednesday’s list contains the following tasks:

Change out towels

Church uniforms ready for kids on Thursday

Jacob study for Word Work Test

Sunday’s list contains the following tasks:

Church

Get planner ready for the week ahead

Water indoor plants

Plan blog posts for the week ahead

Blog post for Monday

Read Olivia’s AR book and return

Meal plan/grocery list for the week ahead

Sort dirty clothes for laundry

 

And that’s it, y’all! 

Throughout each day, I work my way through the daily portion of the list as well as the list for that particular day of the week.  Each task has its own little check box, and I just check things off as I do them.  At the end of each day when everything is done, I uncheck all of the boxes so the list is ready to go for the next day.  And at the end of the week, I uncheck the boxes in the days-of-the-week lists so my list is ready to go for the next week.

Obviously, there are days where I don’t have to do certain tasks – like working out… I don’t work out every day, and also, the kids school stuff – I obviously don’t make lunches or drop the kids at school on Saturdays and Sundays.  So, on any day that I don’t need to do a particular task, I just check it off so I don’t keep seeing it as something I need to do.

Getting this list all set up did take a little bit of time, but it has been SO worth it… each day is such a breeze, and now I never forget to do something important! 

Happy Monday, y’all!!

*Linking up with My Glittery Heart, The Other Side of the Road, and The Sirois Family for Hello Monday.