Management Tip of the day: don't let your to-do list your rule

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Shopper Laura Miller holds her list as she shops at a Wal-Mart store in Santa Vasquez rocks, Agua Dulce, California April 1, 2008.

Credit: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni

BOSTON | Wed May 26, 2011 12: 01pm EST

BOSTON (Reuters Life!)-Since your entire to-do list will probably not fit in your calendar, you need a better way to decide what things get done, says Harvard Business Review.

The Management Tip of the Day offers quick, practical management tips and ideas from Harvard Business Review and HBR.org (www.hbr.org). Any opinions expressed are not endorsed by Reuters.

"Managing your workload with a to-do list can be a productive way to organize your work and keep yourself on task. But don't let your list become a collection of everything you do but will never have time for.

Make sure each item on your list has a time and place attached. Don't add "write management presentation" without including the day and time slot in which you'll do it.

Consider foregoing the list and scheduling items on your calendar instead. You may still want a place to write down things you hope to get to, but be sure that each day you know what you need to accomplish and when. "

-Today's management tip was adapted from "A Better Way to Manage Your To-Do List" by Peter Bregman.

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