The Sticky Note Strategy
I’ve been back on my post-it note bullshit and I’m here to preach my undying faith to this sexy (+ effective) system to anyone who will listen.
And while I’m sure you’ve experienced the magic of a sticky note before — this particular method has had a profound effect on validating my love for office supplies. So, if you’re a visual to-do list person that hasn’t tried this method yet? Welcome aboard.
Basically you’ll want to grab a favorite marker or pen, notebook, and pack of post it notes. I get the smaller ones that come in various colors because they’re cheaper, but get whatever makes your heart sing.
Once you get your sticky notes, you’re gonna brain dump all the bullshit you’ve got to get done.
Write one task per post-it.
Nothing is too petty or too large for a post-it note showcase. I have buy a van near one that says oil change. It’s a different task, it’s a different sticky. If it’s relevant you can jot down the estimated time it’ll take to accomplish the task in the corner, but don’t sweat it too much. You can add to the list freely, as things pop up.
You may want to color code the to do’s based on: areas in your life, the amount of time/energy it’ll take to accomplish, etc. but it’s key you don’t overthink it. Just get all the bullshit out of your brain and onto your lil sticky squares.
I personally use one color for “work”, one color for “personal shit”, one color for the “doggo”, etc. but if I fuck up a color, I leave it because variety is the spice of life.
Once you’ve written your tasks out, you’re gonna want to prioritize those sticky boys by putting them in order in your notebook.
My first page is dedicated to “today’s tasks” with room at the top for today’s top three sticky notes to do ASAP. Following that, I have a work tasks page, a page for tasks with no deadline, and an ongoing tasks page with things like: watering plants or buying replacement items. I try to prioritize them based on urgency putting the most important shit at the top of each page.
By choosing three things a day to accomplish, there’s always a sense of success even if the post it note was wash face, catch up on the latest season of GBBO, or overthrow the government. When you’re done accomplishing each task, you can either cross it out and stick them in the back of the book, throw them away, or collect them in a jar. As long as you’re celebrating the success of getting a sticky done, you can do whatever the hell you want with the evidence.
Ideally, this method will help to keep you organized in a way that’s constantly updatable, manageable, and aesthetically pleasing with minimal effort because the symmetry compensates for handwriting.
I have also had some success with this method with kiddos too, having a column for “to do” and a column for “done” and a star sticker system for rewarding each task. When I’m in a funk and need a pick-me-up, I do this for myself. Including every detail of my life like wake up at 8 am, stacked on top of walk dog, on top of feed dog, brush teeth, wash face, eat breakfast, eat a vegetable, and then I do them in order, sticking any I do on one wall to visualize how much shit I accomplished in one day, and sticking any I skip to a different wall for a future me or to throw away at a later date.
I took a break from this method when I was no longer a teacher because it felt wasteful, but I truly believe the efficacy outweighs the waste produced — especially when I compare it to the past attempts I’ve made at troubleshooting my tendency to procrastinate.
Being able to condense intimidating things that I’ve been dreading to a post-it note has reinstated a sense of control over these tasks. Plus, it made me realize I was trying to overlap some things that were meant to be two different sticky notes all along.
