How to Use the Traffic Light Method to Conquer Your To-Do List
Hop in, Life Editor! We’re hittin’ the road!
On the highway of life, you’re bound to run into some obstacles. What roadblocks are preventing you from getting to your destination?
One way to fuel your motivation is to rewrite your to-do list into a format that makes it easy to instantly see what’s most important and how long it will take to complete any task.
A well-organized to-do list is your map to reach your goals!
Not confident about where you’re going? I’ve got the perfect trick to get you back on the right path.
Watch this video to learn how to use the traffic light method to conquer your to-do list.
The video transcript is below for your convenience.
Next Steps
Mentioned In This Video
Check Out My Best-Selling Digital Products!
Video Transcript
Hey there! I’m Sage Grayson, a former book editor turned life coach. I help ambitious career women edit their habits, routines, and mindsets to balance their happiness at work and home.
I’m a Life Editor…and so are you!
Today, we’re talking about how you can use the traffic light method to conquer your to-do list. Let’s go!
If you’re like most Life Editors, then you probably have a to-do list that’s miles and miles long.
It’s how we roll! We are not passive bystanders in our lives, and we love making changes, tackling projects, and taking the wheel while reaching our goals.
Even if you break down your tasks into master, weekly, and daily to-do lists, you might still have problems getting everything done.
Maybe you can’t figure out what to work on first. Or maybe you over- or underestimate how long each item will take to complete and that messes up your schedule.
I’ve got a quick tip that will help you make sense of your stressful to-do list so you can zero in on the most important items and use your precious minutes wisely.
It’s called the traffic light method. Let me show you how it works!
Here’s an example to-do list. We’re using the amazing dot-grid pages in my Edited Year Planner, but you could use your favorite notebook or bullet journal.
If you’re more of a digital gal, feel free to use Evernote, Asana, or any project management software that allows you to assign colors and labels to the tasks.
Once you have your to-do list in front of you, go line by line and make a colored dot to denote the priority.
Here’s why it’s called the traffic light method: we’re going to use red, yellow, and green dots just like the traffic lights you see when you’re driving around town.
- Red dots mean stop! This is a high priority task that needs immediate attention today or else your life is going to crash and burn.
- Yellow dots mean caution! This is a moderately important task that you need to slow down and watch out for because it can quickly turn into those red high priority tasks.
- Green dots mean go! This is an easygoing, non-urgent, and non-important task that can be completed at it’s own pace whenever you feel like it. Cruise on by the green tasks because they’re just enjoying the ride on you to-do list highway.
After you’ve added all your traffic light dots, you’ll notice that it much easier to see your important items at a glance and you can tune out the less urgent ones.
But once you can see your red tasks, how do you know which ones to work on next?
This is where you use your estimating skills and make an educated guess about how many minutes it will take you to complete each task and write it next to your dots.
This will be easy if you’ve done a task before, but if you haven’t just make your best guess. You can adjust your times for the next to-do list after you do it and get an accurate number.
Now your to-do list is a well-organized traffic light!
You can quickly scan it to find you high-priority red items that you need to stop and do immediately. And you can choose which ones to do next based on how much time you have before your next appointment.
That’s it! This week, rewrite your to-do list using red, yellow, and green dots to indicate priority and the estimated time it will take to complete each item.
If you want more help boosting your productivity and editing every area of your life and business, then you gotta check out my VIP Days. These single session coaching calls are designed for Life Editors who are short on time but still want big results. Get all the details and book your VIP Day at SageGrayson.com.
Thanks for watching. I’ll see you soon.
Check Out My Best-Selling Digital Products!
3 Simple Steps to Become a Productivity Superstar
Dump your excuses, transform your habits, and become the most productive person you know.