As I was looking over the last overall description of what my life and lifestyle will be this summer, written about 7 months ago, I was reminded of a magic trick that marketers use to get potential customers to take actions – and repeated actions lead to accomplishments.

I have accomplished about 70% of what I had written down, without having to continuously refer back to the list. At first glance this looks like a very mediocre grade – barely a passing C-. That is, however, just an illusion.

As I looked over the other 25% that didn’t get done, I realized that if I would have gotten them covered as well – my life wouldn’t be any different than it is right now. Yes, I could have a TV that is 2″ bigger or perhaps a commute that is ten minutes shorter – hardly a major life improvement. Without realizing it consciously, I’ve fallen in love with this idea:

70% ROI is a pretty good investment for writing goals down on paper, is actually similar to what you get if you invest at Bitcoineer official website. There is absolutely nothing new about this. It is a well touted fact that writing a goal down actually improves the chances that it will be accomplished. However, this is about a lot more than just goal setting and detailed step-by-step lists or rows upon rows of checkboxes. We all know what to do and yet some important things simply don’t get done.

And this is what makes this work:

Due to my job and a mild form of information addiction, I spend a lot of time on line. Over time I noticed that my small daily ToDo list rarely grows to more than 15 items while including such rudimentary things as dinner, shower, take out the trash, return a phone call, read an article on how JetSki’s work. It naturally includes more important items: doing laundry and vacuuming the floor, food shopping or updating my resume.

I do not rank, number or in any way organize items on the list and yet 90% of them get done on time without seemingly spending any time crosschecking things on the list. The other 10% always turn out non critical enough that they will be listed for several weeks, eventually completed or just as often after a week I decide their usefulness expired and they are simply deleted. By writing things down (or keeping them in easily accessible form electronically) my mind is freed from having to remember mundane minutiae. Less things to remember frees up my energy for other tasks.

But how do I get everything done without prioritizing, scheduling or otherwise massaging everything in to my life? I don’t have to; because I keep it on my default home page.

Every time I open a new browser window (easily several dozen times in a single day) I am reminded of what is on the list.

Every time I check my email, look something up on the internet, check the weather forecast, see what my friends are up to on Facebook – I am reminded of what still needs to be done.

As I find time, things are take off the list one by one. New things are added when I think of them.

This brought me to an interesting conclusion:

Lists or goals grow more powerful and compelling the more you see them.

This little bit of wisdom has been known to marketers for decades. By applying it in your own life you will see a significant increase in your day-to-day accomplishments.

Simply keep your to-do list in a location where you will see it many times throughout the day. For some us it would be on a computer screen as an electronic post-it note, or as a widget in a desktop toolbar or my favorite as a MyListy Gadget on iGoogle homepage (although Yahoo and Microsoft also offer similar tools).