Sometimes it's not just the amount of work on our to-do list that can feel daunting, but the sheer number of items. I think there is just something about the human brain that sees a lot of short tasks and feels like it's a lot of work, even if in reality only 10% of the items on the list will actually involve a lot of effort. Also, from a completely practical standpoint, the more items you have on your list, the longer it takes to review, prioritize and maintain. Therefore, it's best to periodically spend some time making your list smaller if it starts to swell.

There are four main ways to keep your list manageable in size. The first one, of course, is to be careful of how much you take on in the first place. The second way is to periodically purge your to-do list of projects that, when you're being honest with yourself, don't truly need to get done. The third way is to be so disciplined and diligent that you are moving through your list steadily and thus prevent it from creeping up on you-- but even those of us who pull this off most of the time will still inevitably go through the occasional crunch period when our overall workload increases for a time. Then, as we begin to emerge, we may find that our list has somehow gotten unwieldy.

This brings me to the fourth approach, and the focus of this article, which is to periodically trim your list way down just by doing lots of stuff. Normally I would not encourage you to focus on quantity like this when you work. Instead, I might encourage you to focus on priorities when you choose what to work on, focusing the bulk of your effort on the projects that will have the most impact long-term. Often people will first do what is most urgent, focusing on completing first those things with the most imminent deadlines. Sometimes, I'll encourage people to "chunk" like tasks together and work on them one after another on that basis, because it can be easier to do similar tasks without having to mentally change gears when they jump around.

Today, though, I'm going to talk about doing something a bit different as an occasional change of pace: setting aside a block of time to knock out as many fast and easy tasks as possible to keep your lists to a manageable size and help you focus the rest of the time on what's truly important to get done.

1. Decide which tasks you'll do during your sprint.

If you have a full and up-to-date to do list, print it out or photocopy it, and highlight only those tasks which you can easily do in less than 5-10 minutes. Or, you can handwrite a list of just those items. It does work best to predetermine which items fit your fast/easy criteria ahead of time rather than deciding as you go. If you have to stop and decide what to do next, the pausing and decision-making will break the flow of your concentration. It might also stress you out about all the stuff you haven't gotten to yet.

2. Gather up anything you need.

Get the beverage of your choice and have it at your desk. Turn on some music if you like. Get the basic supplies you usually need to do the kinds of things on your list-- for instance, boot up your computer, find your cell phone if you'll be making phone calls, get out a notebook or a calculator, and so on.

3. Decide how long you'll work.

I recommend actually setting a timer and playfully racing against the clock as you go. Set aside 30 minutes to 2 hours for this exercise. Often, the end of a day and/or week will work best. This timing will give you the advantage of feeling like you have a fresh and clean start the next morning or workday and are ready to focus on higher-level or more creative tasks.

4. Set your timer if you're using one and go!

Work through the list in the order it's written, completing and checking off each item as you go. Don't skip around on your list based on what sounds like most fun - the objective is really to just get through as many things as you can, and it works best if you go through your list in order without spending anytime thinking about which tasks you like or which ones are most important - just try to sprint through. Be playful about it and try to be efficient, but don't actually rush - you're trying to be quick, but not careless or frantic. If you run into a snag and realize the task will take longer than 5-10 minutes, set it aside for now and move to the next item on your list. You'll come back to that item later, during your normal work time.

5.Update your master list.

When your allotted time is up, go back to your main to-do list and cross off whatever you have completed. Leave any items that you had to skip because they took too long, or didn't get to because you didn't make it through the whole lot.

6. Savor your success!

Pat yourself on the back for a job well done! Hopefully your to-do list looks smaller and more manageable now, and you've gotten to have the satisfaction of crossing lots of stuff off and getting it completely off your mind. Take a little break and do something you enjoy as a reward. When you do get back to your list again, you can go back to prioritizing your tasks and worktime however you normally do-- settling back into your routine with a smaller, streamlined task list that will hopefully make you more effective.

Have you ever focused on doing a sprint through the small easy easy stuff on your list to cut it down to size? Tell me about it in the comments.