Making To-Do Lists: My Three-Step Approach

If you’ve ever forgotten a birthday, anniversary, doctor’s appointment, homework assignment, weekly work schedule, etc., you likely realize the benefit of writing important plans down. Creating a to-do list is often an effective way to do this. It‘s my preferred way.

Furthermore, regularly making and following a weekly (and daily) to-do list is a common attribute of many successful persons. The list can take many forms. Below I briefly discuss some approaches before focusing on my technique. I also include a photo of a page from my notebook of weekly to-do lists.

Keeping track of what one plans to do (God willing) during a particular day or week isn’t easy, especially if a person’s schedule is busy. Writing things down on a list that can be carried around in one’s pocket often helps. Making a larger list in a bigger notebook that can be consulted in your room, apartment, or house in the morning and again at evening is nice in some cases too.

Various Approaches
It is increasingly common for persons making a to-do list to create it on their smart phone. If that works for you, great. But I find it takes me more time to type data into a cell phone than to write it on paper. Also, I don’t always have my phone easily accessible. Furthermore, there is the potential problem of a low battery, etc. But if you choose to do it that way, there are numerous apps available that may help you. The website Quire lists 15 of these apps. But I prefer doing it my way.

A desk planner of some type may work too. But for a list of a particular day’s specific plans, I prefer a pocket-sized planner I can carry around with me.

Other persons can help in some cases too. A secretary, wife, husband, parent, child, sibling, friend, etc., may help you keep your schedule sometimes. But even if one or more other individuals is/are dependable, they may not always be with you. Therefore, I think it’s best to keep up with one’s own schedule when reasonably possible.

My Three-Step Approach
I take a three-step approach to doing to-do lists: annually, weekly, and daily.

(1) I usually carry an annual pocket-sized calendar/planner with me in my pocket when I leave my apartment. I can add things to it as necessary during the day.
(2) At my apartment I keep a notebook of 8 ½ x 11 inch sheets containing weekly to-do lists. This provides space for more details than my annual planner.
(3) I carry a small piece of paper, perhaps 3 inches x 5 inches or 4 x 6 inches with me that has the daily schedule for the current day on one side and plans for the next day on the other. This is the one I consult during my daily activities. Persons with many daily activities may prefer an 8 ½ inch x 11 sheet they fold up instead. Persons with few activities may find the small annual planner I mentioned suffices.

But for me, this three-step plan works. The following sections detail my three-step approach.

(1) Annually:
Each year I purchase a small pocket-sized planner where I can list things I want to remember for the year (work schedule, other activities, birthdays, etc.). My favorite is a small At-A-Glance® planner. You can purchase it at places like Staples stores or on ataglance.com's website, (product #72-01, SKU # 72010522).

Its small size (approximately 3 inches x 4 3/8 inches) fits easily into one of my pockets. This planner provides equal space for each day of the week--unlike many business or school planners that devote less space to weekend days. And it contains sections in the back for names and addresses, anniversaries and birthdays, planning for next year, etc. The cost of the At-A-Glance® planner ($12.99 at a Staples store or $14.00 on the ataglance website) works out to less than 5 cents a day, which I consider reasonable. However, you can purchase other types of pocket planners much cheaper, if you prefer.

(2) Weekly:
In addition to my annual pocket planner, I keep a notebook of 8 ½ inch x 11 inch sheets for a weekly to-do-list. Unlike the long-term annual pocket planner, this one lists my weekly activities. Some of its information comes from the annual planner, but this one is more detailed.

The sheets in this notebook (one for each week) are subdivided into three sections. At the end of this subsection is a photo of a page from my notebook that may help you see what these pages look like. I took the photo before the week it covers, so the page is not filled in.

The first section lists fourteen virtues I seek to acquire or improve upon. Each day (at least most days) I mark in a box whether I did okay on it or not. This list of virtues is patterned after one Benjamin Franklin discussed in his autobiography, a book viewable in ebook form on Gutenberg.org. I modified Franklin's list a bit for my purposes. Each week I seek to focus on improving on one of the fourteen, while listing my progress toward each of them each evening, as Franklin apparently did. This process has helped me over the years, though I confess I haven’t attained the success Benjamin Franklin apparently attained with it.

The second section lists ten things I want to devote at least a bit of time to each day. You may choose different items. But my list includes:
1. Country: devoting a few minutes to learning a bit about some country,
2. Vocabulary: seeking to review ten vocabulary words,
3. Read in a book: seeking to read in some book (in addition to the Bible, which I seek to read a brief passage in each morning and evening),
4. Write: writing on something (a journal entry, letter, article, book, etc.),
5. Career: doing something to further develop my career,
6.Wash dishes: this helps me avoid procrastinating on washing my dishes,
7. Sort and file papers: daily I seek to organize some of my papers and/or throw away some unnecessary ones,
8. Straighten, clean, and/or organize: daily I seek to either do some straightening, cleaning, and/or organizing of my apartment
9. Prayer, devotional, walk and/or bicycle: I seek to have a daily devotional and prayer time in the morning and evening--ideally to remain in a prayerful spirit throughout the day. I also seek to get some exercise by walking and/or bicycling,
10. Listen, talk, help others: I seek to listen to the voices of others and other sounds around me, speak appropriately, and do one or more things to help others.

The third section of my weekly to-do list provides two columns. The left column lists “some things I consider appropriate to do that I seek to do,” if God wills. The right column lists some things I actually did that day. The bottom line of this third section allows a space for notes.

I hope the photo below of an actual page from my weekly to-do list planner (which I designed and printed myself, hopefully under God's Holy Spirit's leadership) helps you visualize how it looks.

(3) Daily:
The third step of my approach to to-do lists consists of an individual sheet of paper approximately 3 inches x 5 inches (or 4 inches x 6 inches, depending on what I have handy). On one side I list some specific things I plan to do on a particular day. The reverse side provides a similar list for the following day. Many of the items on this list are taken from the weekly list, but this one is more detailed.

How I Handle My Weekly To-Do Lists
I normally carry my pocket-sized annual planner with me in a pocket. I typically carry the daily planner when I’ve got several things to do while I’m away from my apartment. I keep the folder with the 8 1/2 inch x 11 inch weekly-planner sheets in my apartment where I typically consult it in the morning and again in the evening.

Though I throw away my daily to-do list sheets after using them, I save the weekly ones in a binder. I also save the annual pocket planners.

Closing Thoughts
What works for you may be different from what works for me. The pocket-sized annual planner alone may suffice for you. Or you may choose to focus solely on the individual daily sheets. You may prefer the larger weekly to-do list format of my notebook of weekly sheets. You may even prefer a desktop planner or a large wall calendar.

By the way, in addition to my general to-do lists, I also like to keep a separate to-do list for my grocery shopping--and to remember to take the list with me when I shop.

Furthermore, in addition to making out a to-do list, it’s good to prioritize the items you want to do in some way, maybe by numbering them in order of priority or by color coding them.

Praying over the list in the morning and in the evening can help too.

You may find a PCMagazine list called "10 Simple Ways to Make Better To-Do Lists" beneficial too.

Making the list(s) out is a nice action. But follow through is key. Seek to follow the list within reasonable limits and to update it as necessary. I’ve been accused in the past (justifiably) of devoting more time to doing my to-do lists than to doing the things on the lists. It’s important to keep a balanced perspective.

But I firmly believe that most persons can and will benefit from keeping some type of daily, weekly, monthly, and/or annual to-do list. Few (if any) persons can remember all the things they need to do. It can be embarrassing and harmful to miss appointments and deadlines. To-do lists can help prevent that embarrassment and harm.

Why Can't Antibiotics Be Purchased Over-the-Counter in the United States?

Why can’t antibiotics be purchased over-the-counter in the United States? Antibiotics sometimes seem like miracle drugs the way they help cure diseases.

A huge number of antibiotics are available via prescription for persons to take. But none are available over-the-counter.

I support making at least one common antibiotic purchasable without a prescription. This may improve persons' access to healthcare while decreasing costs.

The United States arguably has the finest health care system in the world at its best, yet many cannot afford treatment. Millions either lack insurance, lack the ability to pay deductibles, or their insurance claims are denied. Office visits and prescriptions cost a lot.

In some cases self diagnosis can help save money, time, and improve medical treatment. Responsible medical websites like WebMD and MayoClinic provide quality information that in some cases enable persons to come closer to diagnosing their own problems, although such sites make it clear they are not a substitute for professional personal medical advice and they are not intended for diagnosis or treatment. Indeed, many medical professionals turn to online information to help with their diagnoses.

While office visits and examinations by a medical professional can be productive, they can also be very expensive. And often the main thing a physician does is prescribe an antibiotic for a condition the patient has—a condition the patient may already suspect they have due to past experience, viewing online medical websites, etc.

I support making at least one or two commonly prescribed antibiotics available without a prescription. For example, amoxicillin has been around for decades and is one of the most commonly prescribed antibiotics. Why not make amoxicillin available without a prescription for a start?

Risks From Making Antibiotics Over-the-Counter

Perhaps the biggest risk of making antibiotics available over-the-counter is the risk of overuse. Persons may seek to take an antibiotic for a virus or something else that antibiotics are not effective against.

Indeed, physicians sometimes overprescribe antibiotics now, perhaps just to be extra cautious in case they misdiagnosed a virus. Furthermore, misusing antibiotics is reported to lead to the development of “superbugs” that are resistant to many antibiotics.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website reports (See endnote 1) that “Each year in the U.S., at least 2.8 million people get an antibiotic-resistant infection, and more than 35,000 people die.” Misuse of antibiotics likely contributes to this.

But I feel the benefits of providing a common antibiotic without a prescription outweigh the risks, even if the particular antibiotic(s) made available over-the-counter are not suitable for all purposes.

Also, if only one or two antibiotics are made available without a prescription, it still reserves a huge number that physicians can use their discretion in prescribing.

While persons may misuse over-the-counter antibiotics, individuals already abuse tobacco, alcoholic beverages, and numerous over-the-counter medications. These can be far riskier than a common antibiotic, especially if persons take appropriate dosages of the antibiotic only when necessary.

Many Over-the-Counter Medications and Dietary Supplements Exist

A large number of medications and dietary supplements are available over-the-counter, including those pictured below that I own. But prescription medicines are not.

Precedent for Making Prescription Drugs Over-the-Counter

There is a precedent for medicines to progress from being available only via prescription to being available over-the-counter. For example, my mom told me that many years ago when I was a boy a doctor prescribed Benadryl for an allergic reaction I had. Since then, Benadyl has been made available over-the-counter. For many years now Benadryl has been available over-the-counter and benefits huge numbers of allergy sufferers without the need for or expense of an office visit and prescription.

The article (See endnote 2)"Prescription to over-the-counter switches in the United States” in the Journal of Research in Pharmacy Practice, viewable on the journal website and the website of the National Center for Biotechnical Information, discusses these conversions, as well as some of the benefits, potential problems, etc.

Current Situation and Recommendations

Some persons in the United States already take antibiotics without a prescription. They ingest leftover medicine from a previous prescription or use medicine from another person’s prescription. They also may buy antibiotics online from a website that may or may not be reputable and may or may not offer genuine products that are packaged, stored, and shipped safely.

I'm not a medical professional and can't give any medical advice. Many medical professionals who know far more about antibiotics and medical care than I are opposed to making antibiotics available without a prescription.

Still, I strongly support the U.S. Food and Drug Administration either taking action to make some common antibiotic available over-the-counter or clearly stating why it opposes doing so. And I urge readers to prayerfully consider urging the Food and Drug Administration (and/or Congress) to act to make some type of common antibiotic available for purchase over-the-counter rather than via prescription.

Endnotes:

1 “Antibiotic/Antimicrobial Resistance (AR/AMR)”; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; page last reviewed July 20, 2020 https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/index.html webpage accessed July 21, 2021

2 Chang, Jongwha; Lizer, Allison; Patel, Isha; Bhatia, Deepak; Tan, Xi; and Balkrishnan, Rajesh; “Prescription to over-the-counter switches in the United States”; Journal of Research in Pharmacy Practice; 2016-July-September; 5 (3): 149-154; https://www.jrpp.net/downloadpdf.asp?issn=2319-9644;year=2016;volume=5;issue=3;spage=149;epage=154;aulast=Chang;type=2 webpage accessed July 21, 2021