To-Do List Template
A printable to-do list sorted by priority, with due dates, tick boxes and blank lines to add to by hand.
Details
to do list templateRed highlights mark what is still blank. Everything stays on this device.
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What is a To-Do List?
A to-do list is a written list of the tasks you have committed to, each with a priority and a due date, so they live on paper instead of in your head. It matters because an unwritten task surfaces at the wrong moment — in the shower, in the middle of the night, after the deadline — and a list sorted by priority tells you what to do first when there is more to do than time.
A paper list suits a single day or a single piece of work: Saturday errands, the jobs before a vacation, a move, a new hire’s first tasks, or a project with loose ends to close. Households put one on the fridge so chores are visible to everyone; small teams print one for a shared job such as an office move, with a name beside each line. People returning from time off use one to rebuild everything that was waiting for them.
A to-do list has no legal form, but two things vary. Date formats differ: 03/04 means March 4 in the US but 3 April in the UK, India and Australia, so on a list others will read, write the month as a word or use the ISO 8601 order of year, month, day. And at work, your employer’s information security policy may govern where you write tasks that name clients, patients or account numbers, and how the paper is disposed of; in the UK and EU, data protection law can apply too.
A to-do list records what you intend to do; it does not decide what matters, and it does not create time. It is not a calendar: an appointment at a fixed time belongs on a calendar, where the time is visible, and only the preparation belongs on the list. Nor is it a project plan. When tasks depend on each other and on other people, a list shows the next steps but not the dependencies or the deadlines further out.
What to put in a To-Do List
These are the details this template asks for. Anything left blank is marked in red on the preview so you can see what is still missing.
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Title optional | For example: This week |
| Tasks | One per line: Task | High, Medium or Low | When it is due |
| Blank lines to add | Free text |
| Notes optional | One per line |
How to write a To-Do List
Title the list by day or project
A title sets the scope: “Tuesday,” “Before the Denver trip” or “Kitchen remodel punch list.” A list with a scope can be finished; a list titled “Things to do” grows forever and never gets crossed off. If you keep separate lists for work and home, the title also stops a work task from being discovered on the fridge too late.
Write each task as an action
Start each line with a verb and include enough to act on without thinking: “email Sam the invoice,” not “invoice.” A bare noun makes you work out what you meant every time you read it, which is why vague items get skipped. If a task needs more than one sitting, it is a project; write down only its next physical step.
Give each task a priority and date
Mark each task with a priority — high, medium or low, or A, B and C — and a due date, then sort so the top of the list is what matters most. When everything feels urgent, use the Eisenhower matrix: do what is urgent and important, schedule what is important but not urgent, delegate what is urgent but not important, and drop the rest.
Leave blank lines for new tasks
New tasks arrive during the day. Leave blank lines at the bottom so they go on the same page, not on sticky notes that wander off. When you add one, give it a priority and a date like the rest, and ask whether it displaces something above it. If it does not fit today, write it where tomorrow’s list will pick it up.
Review what is left each evening
At the end of the day, cross off what is done and decide deliberately about each unfinished task: do it tomorrow, schedule it, hand it to someone or drop it. Copying undone tasks forward forever turns a list into a record of guilt. Use the notes for context that does not fit a line, such as a phone number, a reference or what you are waiting on from someone else.
Common mistakes
- Writing tasks as bare nouns such as “invoice” or “dentist,” which forces you to reconstruct what they mean each time and makes them easy to skip.
- Putting more on today’s list than the day can hold, so the important task sinks among the easy ones and the list ends the day mostly undone.
- Listing a large job such as “plan the move” as one task, which never gets started because it has no obvious first step.
- Copying unfinished tasks forward day after day without deciding anything about them, so stale items pile up and new ones get lost among them.
- Keeping appointments with fixed times on the list instead of a calendar, so the call is missed while you are working down the page.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make an effective to-do list?
Write each task as a specific action — “email Sam the invoice,” not “invoice” — and give it a priority and a due date. Keep today’s list short enough to finish, and break large jobs into their next physical step. Put the most important task at the top. At the end of the day, decide what happens to anything unfinished instead of copying it forward automatically.
How should I prioritize my to-do list?
Sort by importance and deadline, not by how easy a task is. A simple scale of high, medium and low works, as does the Eisenhower matrix, which separates urgent from important. Ask of each task what happens if it slips a day: if the answer is a missed deadline or a colleague left waiting, it goes near the top. Easy tasks feel productive but should not crowd out the one that matters.
What is the Eisenhower matrix?
A grid named after US President Dwight D. Eisenhower that sorts tasks by two questions: is it urgent, and is it important? Urgent and important tasks you do now. Important but not urgent tasks you schedule. Urgent but unimportant tasks you delegate where you can. Tasks that are neither you drop. The important-but-not-urgent quadrant repays the most attention, because planning and prevention live there and are the easiest to put off.
Should I use a paper or digital to-do list?
Use whichever you will look at. Paper is quick, visible on a desk or fridge, and finite, which helps keep a daily list short, and crossing a line off is satisfying. Digital lists handle reminders, repeating tasks, sharing and search better. Plenty of people use both: an app or calendar for recurring and long-range tasks, and a printed page for today’s work.
How many tasks should be on a daily to-do list?
There is no right number, because tasks differ in size. A better test is time: estimate how long each task will take, add them up, and compare the total with the hours you have free after meetings and interruptions. If the list does not fit, move items to another day now rather than at the end of the day. Put the task that would make the day a success at the top.
This page explains general practice and is not legal advice. Requirements differ between countries and, in some cases, between states — check what applies where the document will be used.