I couldn’t agree more! I also do the same when setting up my tasks for the day. There have been times in the past where I’ve given myself too much to do in one day. I’ve finally come to a point where I now know it’s not the amount of tasks on my todo list but the types of tasks that matter.

To help with this I try to look at my day in a slightly different way and ask myself “What will make today a productive day”? It might be that sending a few emails and finishing off a design will be all that ‘has’ to be done and I know that when I complete those 2 simple tasks it will make my day productive. I’m also focussing on only listing things that I’m 99.9% sure will be completed on the day, so that I get the satisfaction on 100% completion. Obviously If you still have time then you take another look at your long list of todos and move another one over to knock down.

On another note, something I’ve found that has really helped me to focus on specific tasks is the Pomodoro technique, which helps to break up your day into short 25min sprints to focus your mind on getting things done. The idea is that anyone can focus for 25mins, so you focus on your task for 25mins then take a short break ready to go at it again.