How Long is Your To-Do List?

Does anyone ever feel like a two day weekend is hardly enough to get everything on your to-do list taken care of? Especially if "relax" is one of the things listed. For me, it seems like there is never enough time to completely cross out everything. Either new things start popping up to be added to the list, or the old things on the list take much longer than I hoped or expected them to.

For instance, I had a few things I wanted to get done around the house yesterday, but then my wife's car wouldn't start. Instead of cleaning out one of our bedrooms and moving some stuff to the attic, my morning became consumed with jumper cables, battery acid and bad alternators. I managed to get to the vacuuming and the dishes, but that other stuff is waiting for me like a monster in some horror movie. Fortunately, the 3-day weekend awaits this week, which will hopefully allow enough time to re-tackle those issues.

So I thought I'd ask our trusty blog readers if you had any strategy around your to-do lists? I've found that it helps me to break it down by day, and set realistic goals. That way, I feel good about what was accomplished and don't over stress myself during the evenings. It's a nice balance of getting things done but still getting in that important relaxing time to recharge for the next day. Another thing I try to do is take care of the most important items first. If you take care of the less important things, the important things will still demand their attention, simply because that's just how they are.

So what about you guys? How long are your to-do lists? What strategies do you use to help you stay on top of it? Feel free to share in the comments.