When the tasks start mounting up, the well-meaning genealogist starts a list, with every intention of getting to each of the items on the list at some point in the near future. Our problem, though, is life itself. Stuff gets in the way. Family members get sick, get married, graduate, move away, retire, or something else that impacts our time dramatically. Those items don’t make the to-do list because they’re usually unplanned, but they tend to take precedence over other items when it’s their time. The problem with to-do lists that contain more items than we can possibly manage is that they create stress and can even lead to procrastination. So what do you do?

Marshall Cook, in his book Time Management: Get More Done with Less Stress by Efficiently Managing Your Time (Holbrook, Mass.: Adams Media Corporation, 1999), suggests "Ten Ways to Create a Healthy To-Do List" (the comments added are mine):

1. Don’t put too much on it.
Give yourself a break. Just make a small list of big items and get to them as you can, without setting unreasonable deadlines.

2. Put some air in it.
If you have to allocate time for your list items, give yourself a lot of breathing room. I remember when I lived in the Washington, D.C., area I always allowed thirty minutes to get anywhere. Where I came up with that number, I don’t know. But the reality was that unless I was going to the mall within five miles, everything else always took longer than time minutes. I built stress into my schedule. Who needs that?

3. List possibilities, not imperatives.
We’ve all got the same twenty-four hours to deal with. Does everything really need to be done right now? What will happen if an item on your list is not accomplished today? Sometimes there are consequences, but many times there are not. Again, give yourself a break.

4. Don’t carve the list on stone tablets.
Many people try to make their lives fit into the readily available day planners. But if this style doesn’t work for you, find one that does and adjust it to fit your needs. Make your list comfortable and flexible for you.

5. Order creatively.
How do you decide what order to place your tasks in? I like to tackle items that have to be accomplished that day first thing in the morning, so I make sure they get my attention, they’re not overlooked, and my mind is fresh to tackle these projects. Figure out how you need to order your tasks so the important things get done.

6. Break the boulders into pebbles.
This is rather obvious. Break up your big projects into bite-sized chunks. Doing this helps in two ways: 1) you see progress; and 2) you are working toward accomplishing the entire project in a manageable manner.

7. Schedule breaks, goofs, time-out time, and little rewards.
Are you like me, the kind of person that has to actually write "rest" on the list or it won’t happen? If so, then add rest and relaxation, fun, or personal research time to your list if you will never get to it otherwise. We need to have fun in our lives or all the work isn’t worth it.

8. Schedule for long-range as well as short-range goals.
If your long-range goals are just in your head, how are you ever going to make time to work toward them? You need to spend time on these goals so they can actually materialize at some point in your life. Write them down if you need to.

9. Be ready to abandon the list.
As I mentioned earlier, life happens. Sometimes we don’t need to follow a list to get where we need to go. Remain flexible and don’t overtax yourself. Life’s too short to live it constantly stressed.

10. You don’t have to make a list at all.
For years I didn’t make physical lists, keeping mental lists instead. That worked for me. I’m finding that as I get older, however, sometimes I have to make lists if items on the list are ever to be accomplished. If lists aren’t your style, don’t force it. If lists are your style but you don’t accomplish items on them, try not keeping a list and see what happens. If you’re finding yourself over-stressed and not accomplishing your tasks or goals, try some suggestions in this list. The best suggestion overall, however, might be for you to say "no" to requests for assistance so you can accomplish your own goals.

Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens, CGRS, is the managing editor of Genealogical Computing, editor of the Board for Certification of Genealogists’ newsletter OnBoard, the creator of Clooz—the electronic filing cabinet for genealogical records, and a frequent contributor to Ancestry. She can be reached via e-mail at mailto:liz@ancestordetective.com.