Here is another valuable Management Tip of the Day from Harvard Business Review. To sign up for a free subscription to any/all HBR newsletters, please click here.

For some people, to-do lists are life savers; they keep them organized and on task.

For others, they’re useless pieces of paper to ignore as they grow longer and longer.

Next time you sit down to write a to-do list (or decide to face up to an existing one), follow these two tips:

1. Break it down. To-dos are not the same as goals or projects. Only include specific tasks that move a project toward completion. If a to-do list item is too large to get done in one step, break it down further.
Include specifics.

2. Help your future self out by including details that will make doing the task easier. Instead of “Get in touch with Julie,” try “Call Julie about next task force meeting at 555-5555.”

Today’s Management Tip was adapted from “Guide to Getting the Right Work Done.”

To check it out and join the discussion, please click here.