How to keep track of everything on your plate: A simple strategy to make to-do lists less overwhelming
How to keep track of everything on your plate: A simple strategy to make to-do lists less overwhelming
The Bucket System: A Flexible Alternative to To-Do Lists
If you ever struggle to decide what to do with your free time, you deserve new systems to support you. I’m sharing a simple yet flexible tool that you can start using right away to keep track of everything on your plate and start tasks with less stress: the Bucket System!
To-Do Lists: Love Them or Hate Them?
To-do lists can be polarizing. Some people rely on them, while others avoid them altogether. Checking things off your list can make you feel on top of the world. Or, staring at a giant list with no clear starting point can be overwhelming and make you feel like you aren’t doing enough.
Maybe you have lists everywhere—on sticky notes, whiteboards, phone reminders, notebooks, and calendar apps. Or perhaps you rely on your memory and resist writing things down. No matter where you fall on this spectrum, the Bucket System is a different way to manage tasks that provides both structure and flexibility.
A Real-Life Example: How the Bucket System Helped Me Pivot
The other day, I had a podcast episode fully outlined and scheduled to record. I had blocked out time for it, and it was on my plan for the day. But then life happened—my dog got an upset stomach (I’ll spare you the details), and my entire day was thrown off. Working from home gave me the flexibility to take care of him, but there was no way I could sit down and record a focused 20-minute episode while being constantly interrupted.
My all-or-nothing brain initially told me, “If I can’t record, I guess I can’t do anything podcast-related today.” But that wasn’t true! Not only did I catch myself in that thinking trap, but I also had my Bucket System to help me navigate it.
I looked at my “Podcast Bucket” and the menu of other podcast-related tasks I could choose from. I picked tasks that fit my available energy and time. Instead of recording, I outlined future episodes and worked on graphics—tasks that still moved my goal forward without requiring deep focus.
What Is the Bucket System?
The Bucket System is not a to-do list. Instead, it’s a way to categorize your tasks into flexible, easy-to-navigate menus of options.
To start, think about broad categories (or “buckets”) of tasks in your life. Some common examples include:
Work
Home Chores
Kids/Family Responsibilities
Self-Care
Once you have your buckets, you create menus within them. These menus help you quickly see what tasks you can choose from, rather than feeling overwhelmed by one long list. The key difference? You don’t have to do everything on the menu—you simply pick what fits your energy, time, and focus level at any given moment.
Adding Flexibility: Energy-Based Categories
One of my favorite aspects of the Bucket System is tailoring it to fit your energy. Instead of just listing tasks, you can categorize them based on the type of effort they require. For example:
Work Bucket:
High-energy, focused work: Writing reports, deep brainstorming
Low-energy, admin work: Responding to easy emails, organizing files
Home Chores Bucket:
High-energy tasks: Vacuuming, washing dishes
Low-energy tasks: Tidying for five minutes
Having these distinctions means that when your energy or focus shifts, you don’t have to figure out what to do—you just check your menu and pick something that fits.
Why the Bucket System Works
Many people struggle with traditional to-do lists because they don’t account for real-life factors like energy fluctuations, unexpected interruptions, or shifting priorities. The Bucket System helps you:
Avoid all-or-nothing thinking – Even if you can’t complete a big task, you can still make progress.
Reduce decision fatigue – Instead of staring at a long to-do list, you simply pick from a pre-sorted menu.
Work with your brain, not against it – You choose tasks based on what feels manageable in the moment.
A Transformational Approach
This system has made a huge impact on many of my clients, and I’ve even been invited to teach it in other coaching communities. One participant, a school counselor, recently told me:
“I write my buckets every morning. This is the most productive year I’ve had as a school counselor. I get overwhelmed and anxious if I don’t do this process. Thank you for transforming my life.”
This is why I love sharing tools that help people work with their brains instead of forcing themselves into rigid systems that don’t fit.
Give Yourself Permission to Try Something New
If you dread your current planning system, you have permission to let it go and try something different. The Bucket System is one option that can bring more ease and adaptability to your daily life.
You don’t have to stick with a system that doesn’t work for you. Try this out, tweak it to fit your life, and see how it feels. And remember—there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. The best system is the one that works for you.
And if you’d like more personalized help setting up your own version, I’d love for you to join me in my Stuck to Started membership, where you learn to create systems that work for your brain
Curious about joining the Stuck to Started coaching membership?
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Sarah Lovell (00:01)
Welcome back to From Stuck to Started. Whether you love, hate, or are chronically overwhelmed by to-do lists, this episode is for you. If you're someone who struggles to figure out what to do with your free time, you're gonna wanna stick around for this whole episode. I'm sharing a simple, flexible tool that you can start using today to help you keep track of everything on your plate and start tasks with less stress. So let's jump in. Music and intro.
So I'm on a roll right now talking about to-do lists. My last couple of episodes have been about to-do lists. And I know it's a, know, some people love them, some people hate them. There's a variety of ways that people use them. And I want you to know wherever you fall, if you're somebody who, you know, can't stand the idea of a to-do list, you know, you're,
focusing on your memory for things. If you're somebody who has to-do lists everywhere, scraps of paper, sticky notes, a whiteboard, reminders on your phone, the calendar apps, seven notebooks, wherever you fall on this spectrum of to-do list users, today we're gonna talk about something that is totally different than a to-do list. One of my favorite tools that I share with clients,
I call it the bucket system or menu system. We use these words interchangeably. But this is something that I love helping people with, especially, again, wherever you fall on the to-do list spectrum of love it or hate it, this is a very different way to help you keep track of things and also choose what you're doing. So it gives structure and flexibility.
So I'm gonna share a quick story of how I used this system the other day. And then I will give you some examples of how you can use this in your life. And if you're listening to this episode and you're like, okay, I need this, I need more of this, I want buckets and menus. I am leading a workshop on this in my membership Stuck to Started on April 23rd at 12 p.m. Pacific, 3 p.m. Eastern.
and I would love to have you join us so that you can click the link in the bio to, link in the bio? No, that's Instagram. You can click the show notes, the link in the show notes to join the membership and I will walk you through your own individualized version of this. Okay, so first let me tell you what the heck I'm talking about. So I used this system the other day, this bucket and menu system, because I was supposed to record this podcast episode.
I had it totally outlined. I had it written on my plan for the day. I had a chunk of time blocked out and I was ready to record this episode, but life had other plans. And that's how it goes sometimes, right? So my dog had a very upset stomach and I will spare you the details, but it threw an entire wrench in my day. And so I feel very fortunate that I worked from home and I was able to be here to take care of him.
But there was no way I was going to sit down to try to record a 20 minute episode when I was being interrupted constantly. And so my brain, my brain is an all or nothing brain that I am constantly reminding that life is not all or nothing, right? This is something I talk about all the time on this podcast. I talk about it all the time with clients. It's something I am constantly practicing. But my brain immediately went to
okay. We can't record the podcast. So I guess we can't do anything podcast related today. And that is incorrect. and I, so not only did I catch myself in that all or nothing thinking, but I have a system, this bucket and menu system that helps me navigate all or nothing thinking. and so I went and looked at my menu of options of other things that I could do related to my podcast that day.
so I wasn't going to record, but I had a list of light lifts, quick action steps, admin tasks that I could pick up and do that fit the energy of the day that were okay if I got interrupted. And so instead of recording this episode the other day, I outlined some future episodes, I worked on some graphics, right? I did other tasks and that...
made me feel good, right? Like I was like, okay, it was a bummer that I couldn't do the recording, but I was still able to do things that moved this goal forward, right? And so that's one of the reasons I love menus is because it helps you figure out what to do when life throws a wrench or when your energy shifts or when you're so overwhelmed, it feels like paralyzing and you're like, I can't decide, right?
So I'm gonna talk you through what menus and buckets are, how you can create them, examples of where you can use them in your life. And like I said, if you're listening to this episode and you're like, my gosh, I need this, I want more help with this, come join us in Stuck to Started and I will help you create your individualized version of this. This is truly one of my favorite workshops that I run. I've run this in my membership before
I've also been asked by other coaches and other memberships to come and run it for their communities. And I just have to share that someone who participated in this workshop, not in my community, like in a different group, she replies to my emails every once in a while to tell me how much this system has impacted her life. And I just want to share it with you because I think this can be the power of finding the right tool for you.
So she said, I write my buckets every morning. This is the most productive year I've had as a school counselor. I get overwhelmed and anxious if I don't do this process. Thank you for transforming my life. my goodness. I just, all the emotions when I got that email from her. Because I think so many people that I've worked with and met are using tools and systems that don't align with your brain. And so if you dread,
using a system, if you dread your to-do list, if you dread whatever strategy you're using to try to keep track of things, I want you to know you have permission to let that system go and to try something new. And if you're like, have no idea what to try, I'm glad you're here at this podcast and here in my community because I want to share some ideas with you that you can try.
And I think it's really important. I've said this in other episodes. I'll continue to say this every time I share a resource. There's no one size fits all strategy. If there was, we would all be doing the exact same thing and nobody would be stressed or overwhelmed, right? We'd have this magic solution. That does not exist. I wish it did. But whenever I share a tool or a strategy, I want you to know it's okay if you listen to this and you're like, ooh, that's not for me. It's okay. Take what could be for you, adjust.
try it out, and that's what I love helping people do in the membership in my coaching community is helping you tweak to fit for what might work for you and to go through that process knowing that you're not alone. Okay, so let's talk about what this bucket system is. So it is not a to-do list. And I'm gonna say that a couple more times because I think when I talk about this with people, they're like, okay, you're describing a really overwhelming to-do list.
No, I am describing a menu. And when you think of a menu, I hope you think of choices. I hope you think of categories, right? Like entrees, desserts, I don't know, vegetarian dishes, right? So I want you to think of this as a menu. And I call it buckets and menus because I've just never settled on name. Different people call it different things when they create their own.
but basically you're going to create, if you want to like go through this process with me right now, you're going to start thinking about the things that are on your typical to-do list. And if you're like, I'm not a to-do list person, no worries. What are some of the categories in your life of things that you're doing? I'll give you some very basic ones. Work, home chores, things related to kids.
Self-care, right? Those are four very broad categories or buckets. And some people wanna stop there. They're like, I'm just going to divide up the things that I do into these categories or buckets. And I'm just gonna organize, right? My menus into that, right? And when I say menus, this is kind of like your action items, your tasks, the things that you're choosing from.
Your brain might think it's a to-do list, but it's not. And the reason it's not is because it's not like you need to do all of this at once. You're basically creating a visual for yourself to choose from. This is like a gift to future you because oftentimes my clients struggle with figuring out what to do when there's free time. So if you're someone
that you're like, okay, I have 20 minutes right now. What can I do? Or I have four hours. How do I use this time? Having a menu is, is that you've already created is a gift to yourself because you're doing some of that pre-planning. You're drawing a map that you get to follow, right? It choose your own adventure if you will. And so,
This helps with the structure and flexibility. The structure is you're giving yourself categories or buckets. And then the flexibility is you get to choose from the menu what fits your mood, your energy, your time, your resources, what your day looks like, right? So you start with these buckets and they look different for everyone. This is, love helping people pick their buckets. So, but for this example, let's say we have work chores,
kids and self-care. And then you can mix in some other descriptors. And this is what I'm obsessed with. So you've heard me talk about energy on this podcast before. It's not just high energy and low energy, right? It's also creative, administrative, social, problem solving, right? So you can mix those in to your categories and really like spice up your menu, right? So for example,
In my, the example that I gave you at the beginning of this episode was for my podcast. I couldn't do the like high energy focused attention work, which was sitting down to record this. So that would be like, you know, yeah, high energy focused work, right? Was my category. But I could do some light lifts related to my podcast. And I already had those written out for me on my menu of options.
So I worked on my graphics, I worked on my show notes. And so I didn't have to come up with what could I do instead when my day changed, right? Another example that I help a lot of clients with is around chores, because our brains go to that all or nothing thinking or the overwhelm of like, how do I even get started? And so...
Chores, home chores might be one of your buckets and then your menus in there might be low energy tasks, right? So it might be tidying for five minutes or high energy tasks, washing the dishes or vacuuming, right? So again, helps you, it helps you not only make a decision, but also make a decision that aligns with your energy, your mood, what your day is looking like.
And that's the structure and flexibility piece because it's a choice. It's not your traditional to-do list. It's not you saying to you, you need to do these 10 things. It's you saying to future you, hey, here are some options. What do you feel like doing? Or what matches what you need to prioritize today? So it helps you honor your energy. It helps you work with your energy.
It also helps you manage that all or nothing thinking that perfectionism that can pop up. If you're somebody who gets a little demand avoidance, it gives you choice, right? Like you're choosing what you want to do. And then it can also help with tasks switching. Like I said, if you're someone, when you have 20 minutes in between meetings and you spend the whole 20 minutes trying to figure out what to do, this gives you that quicker task switch.
of, I have 20 minutes right now, let me look at my self care menu. and look, I have a self care menu for under 20 minutes. I highly encourage that, especially if you're someone who like has little pockets of time. Like, okay, I have 20 minutes right now, I can go for a 10 minute walk, I can put on music, I can do a yoga nidra, right? Like it helps you make choices quicker so that you can use your time in a way that feels good.
So like I said, this is one of my favorite tools to share with people because it is so customizable. So some people create these massive menus, like these beautiful visuals that they can choose from any time they have free time or they use it to plan their day or their week. Some people just create a daily menu. And again, it's not a to-do list because you're not gonna get everything done on it.
because it's a rarity that any of us finish our to-do lists, right? Because we put these high demands on ourselves. So I think even reframing this as I'm choosing what to do, I'm not going to choose at all, I can't eat the whole menu, right? I have some clients who use this like every day. This is part of their rotation that is helpful for them for planning.
I have some people who use it just in like emergency situations. So similar to like how I was like, shoot, I can't record this podcast. What can I do? I went and looked at my menus, right? So I didn't have to rack my brain to figure it out. So this is, I just gave you a little sneak peek of what creating buckets and menus looks like.
But if you want to dive more into this, if you want to create your own bucket and menu system, this is what we're doing in April in Stuck Distorted. Our workshop this month is on April 23rd, 12 p.m. Pacific, 3 p.m. Eastern. And I'm going to walk you through creating your own bucket and menu system. You will leave at the end of the workshop with a new system to try. And being in the membership, you're going to get
ongoing support for however long you stay. can cancel at any time. It's a month to month membership. But each week I check in with, with members to say, Hey, how is that system going? Hey, do we need to tweak it a little bit? Hey, what are you liking? what's not working? How can we fit it? How can we, adjust it to fit what you're looking for? So you get, you get this level of support in Spectre started. And I would love to have you come join us. If you can't come live.
No worries, or if you're listening to this podcast after this workshop has happened, all of my workshops live in our resource library. And when members join Stuck2Started, I check in with you on what are your goals? What brought you here? What are you hoping to do? And then I point you in the right direction and offer that individual guidance and support. So if you are curious about Stuck2Started, if you're wondering if it's the right fit for you,
Click the link in the show notes. You can always send me an email and we can chat about it to make sure you feel like it's the right fit. But like I said, it's a really welcoming, wonderful community of people who get it and you get lots of support and encouragement because I want you to create a system that works for your brain, a tool that you feel good about so that you're not dreading trying to figure out how to, you
how to keep track of everything, how to get started on things, and how to remember everything that's on your plate. So thank you so much for being here. If you try out the buckets and menu systems, let me know how they go. I'd love to hear it. And have a wonderful week, and we'll talk again soon.
