Project-specific to-do lists also help you use scraps of time effectively. For example, if you have a spare five to 10 minutes, and there is a five-to-10-minute job on your list, you can quickly ...

Block your tasks. When you’re looking at your to-do list, every item looks the same. Each takes up a single line, but some tasks take 15 minutes while other projects take 15 hours.

Design a to-do list that forces you to prioritize one project at a time. Traditional to-do lists may force you to prioritize too many things at once. Jamie Grill / Getty Images/Tetra images RF ...