Did You Know To-Do Lists Are Scriptural?!

I think time management is something that a lot of people, if not most, struggle with in life.  Even those people who are excellent managers of their time still have certain areas where they may be more lax or need some improvement.  Something that helps me tremendously is making to-do lists.  I am very much a list person.  To-do lists keep me on track, hold me accountable, and help me not to forget things.  They are also extremely therapeutic for me…more on that in a bit!

In my study of the Bible, I’ve discovered something.  God is pretty good at time management.  I know, earth-shattering news right? 😉  Really though, I’ve learned that good time management skills are important to God.  He is also a God of order and structure (for the most part…sometimes the way He goes about things doesn’t seem very structured in the beginning!).  God is a planner (see Psalm 33:11, Proverbs 19:21, Jeremiah 29:11, Galatians 4:4, and Ephesians 1:11 for just a few examples).  I also felt a bit of kinship with God because HE likes lists TOO!  There are lists all throughout the Bible.  He even gave people to-do lists. 

Examples of to-do lists in the Bible:

To give you just a couple of examples… When God instructed Moses to build the Tabernacle, He gave him very specific to-do lists of how to do it and what to use (Exodus 26).  In Matthew 10, when Jesus sent out the 12 disciples, he sent them off with specific to-do lists of who to talk to, what to do, what to take, where to stay, and even what to do if and when they were rejected (Matthew 10:5-14).

So I guess you could say that making to-do lists is scriptural! 🙂  OK…so maybe it’s NOT a sin to avoid to-do lists, but planning ahead and making lists definitely has its benefits.

A few reasons for making to-do lists…

To-do lists hold us accountable—We are much more likely to accomplish tasks that are written down.

To-do lists are simply lists of daily goals.  We discussed previously that we are much more likely to achieve goals that are written down.  

Planning ahead and making to-do lists can save us time.

That might sound a little strange to someone who doesn’t make lists.  When teaching this I often get counter-arguments from my students asking “It takes time to make the list so how could it save time?”.  Well, sometimes we have to invest a little to save a little.  It’s kind of the same concept when investing money.  Yes, it costs upfront, but the payoff in the end is bigger.

I often used to give them a tangible analogy by showing them a trick for how to wrap their wired earbuds to avoid tangles.  It takes investing a little bit of time to wrap them (when it’s sometimes inconvenient—like right after I get home from a walk).  Then the payoff comes later when they just pull apart in less than a second, instead of me having to fight to untangle them for 5 minutes or more.

Making to-do lists are the same.  We invest a little bit of time upfront to write out a list of tasks to be accomplished in order to save time or keep from wasting time later.  We are less likely to get distracted and less apt to work on useless tasks when we work off of to-do lists.  It also prevents running around aimlessly when we make plans and write them down.

“An intelligent person aims at wise action, but a fool starts off in many directions.” Proverbs 17:24 (GNT) 

“Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.” 1 Corinthians 9:26 (NIV) 

“A hard-working farmer has plenty to eat, but it is stupid to waste time on useless projects.” Proverbs 12:11 (GNT)

How I used to wrap my earbuds (prior to using wireless/Bluetooth earbuds):

To-do lists can eliminate the stress of trying to remember everything.

When our tasks are written out, we don’t have to sit around later thinking “Now what was it that I needed to do?”.  We can just write it down and forget it because we know we have our list to which we can refer.  It can also be an ongoing list that we can add to as things come up or as we think of them.

It can be therapeutic to cross things off when tasks are accomplished.

There’s just something about being able to finish a task and then draw a line or mark a check beside it to show it’s been completed.  One time at work our department had to do a bunch of strengths and personality tests.  It was funny because mine pretty much pegged me to a tee.  One of the results, when describing me, said something like, “You are a person that likes to-do lists.  You like the feeling of writing something down and then crossing it off.  You like the sense of accomplishment.  In fact, you like it so much, that if you complete a task that is NOT written on your list, you will go ahead and write it down and then cross it off.”  Yep.  Guilty as charged.  I’ve totally done that.  Like I said…it’s therapeutic.

To-do lists allow us to evaluate our productivity at the end of each day.

Once we have finished the day, we can look back at our lists and see what we finished and what we still have left that we might need to move to the next day.  We can see areas where we might need to allot more time.

Take Some Practical Steps to Start Making To-Do Lists:

• First, once you’ve determined that to-do lists are beneficial and have decided to start using them, you need to decide on a method.

The method I typically teach is one I learned years ago in college called the ABC Daily To-Do List.  Here’s how it works:

ABC Daily To-Do list

1. First write down everything you need to do that day
2. Estimate how long each task will take
3. Rate each task by priority
   • A’s are most important
   • B’s are important but not urgent
   • C’s do not require immediate attention
4. Cross the tasks off as you complete them
5. Evaluate your productivity and make changes as necessary

• Next, tweak your method to work for you.

I do find it very helpful to prioritize my tasks (one reason I like the ABC to-do list).  However, I honestly don’t go through each and every step.  The part about estimating the time is typically just done in my head.  Also, since I usually use my phone app for to-do lists now, I don’t write A’s, B’s and C’s.  I do have to ability, though, to mark priority levels (mine uses exclamation points “!”, “!!”, or “!!!”).

• Then, decide if you want to keep a handwritten list or use a device.

Some people are old school and like to write things out by hand.  I actually still do this from time to time.  However, I absolutely LOVE my smartphone now and the ability to write my lists on it because it will give me sound alerts and text reminders or notifications.  That comes in handy if you’re like me and you even need alarms to remind you to pick your kids up from school!

There are so many apps out there now to help keep you organized.  I can’t say that I have found one that knocks me off my feet yet.  So many seem to have different pros and cons.  I’m currently just using the “Reminders” app that comes standard on iPhone.  Honestly, it has a lot of bugs that make me want to throw my phone at times, but the alerts and the ability to just quickly tell Siri, “Remind me to…”, and some of its other features (like prioritizing and repeating) keep me using it for now.  Many e-mail systems and calendars now also have features built-in for to-do lists and reminders.

• Finally, try using to-do lists for a few weeks, and just see if you don’t notice an increase in your productivity!
  Good time management skills are important to God and are essential for success. #timemanagement

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What apps do you use for to-do lists?  Share them with us by leaving a comment below. 

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*Updated: Originally posted 1/26/16