To-Do lists are a simple way to manage your school and personal tasks.  In fact, you or someone you know may have used a to-do list to shop for groceries.  However, why write down what you need to buy on paper when you can store it all in your short-term memory?  The reason why a list is important is because our brain’s capacity to store information is limited. 

According to neuroscience professor, Daniel Levitin, “we can only hold a few things in our mind at one time.”  Levitin shares that “writing down what you need to do allows you to focus on the task in front of you. You’re not distracted or worried about the other items because you have them written down and prioritized.”  Imagine you have a list of assignments to complete not including your other face-to-face courses.  How will you organize what tasks you need to complete first?   A list can help you with this process.    

Keep your lists simple and practical.  Your to-do list can be numbering a piece of paper from 1-10 and listing the most important tasks first.  You could separate your lists by class name or by priority. The University of Rhode Island has some excellent to-do list templates that you can use.  It has five templates to choose from that can be easily adapted for school or personal use.  Consider using to-do lists to help you organize and plan your coursework.