Pen, Paper and the Power of a To-Do List

From handmade planners to color-coded Post-its, Duke staff and faculty share the systems that help them manage busy lives

A collage showing multiple written planners used by Duke employees

Marvin Rothwell is a computer guy – at least when it comes to his day job. As an Assistant Director of Research Systems and Infrastructure for Duke Cancer Institute, he’s typically glued to a computer screen or his laptop for the bulk of his workday.

But when it’s time to plan his day, his week, his month and his life, Rothwell prefers a system where he can disconnect and take old-fashioned pen to paper. When he couldn’t find a physical planner that contained everything he wanted, though, he simply created his own.

Rothwell’s planner includes an “Organize the C.H.A.O.S.” section, an acronym he uses for the key focus areas in his life: career, health, assets, opportunity and support. In it, he breaks monthly goals into weekly and daily goals. Everything is aligned and color-coded according to the C.H.A.O.S. area and goal priority.

Make Your To-Do List Work for You

In L&OD’s “Managing Multiple Priorities,” offered on May 14 and Sept. 10, participants learn that the most important step is breaking down to-do lists into manageable tasks.

“I just wanted something to clear my head,” Rothwell said. “It gets me off my computer screen, it gets me off my phone, and then I can go sit on my back porch and do this where I don’t have to be tethered to a laptop.”

Marvin Rothwell holds his planner — Marvin Rothwell displays his self-made planner that incorporates his "C.H.A.O.S." system. Photo by Travis Stanley

Joy Birmingham, Associate Director for Duke Learning & Organization Development, says the best organizational planning system is one that works for you, but it’s important to have something.

“If you don’t have a solid to-do list, I don’t think you’ll ever manage your time,” she said. “But it’s also realizing that how we managing our time is a lot of decision making.”

Across Duke, no two systems look the same. Here are a few of the ways colleagues organize their to-dos.

More than Doodles

Doodle to-do lists from Allison Gilbert — A collage of assorted "free-structure to-do lists" from Allison Gilbert's collection. Photos courtesy of Allison Gilbert

Allison Gilbert, Associate Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, creates what she calls “free-structure to-do lists.”

To-do tasks are nestled among intricate designs of loops and squiggles, which often get written on notebooks during Zoom meetings, she said, as her mind is sparked by ideas. The most important projects get “especially pretty doodles.”

“The to-do notes are essential to be sure I get the job done,” Gilbert said. “The placement and elaborations of the doodles often work to emphasize the importance of whatever task they frame.

“I also love looking at the doodles, so they also function to keep me coming back to my tasks at hand and help me be sure I get them done.”

An Intricate Post-it System

Diamond Riley sits at her desk holding a tiny garbage bin filled with crumpled Post-it notes — Diamond Riley's Post-it system is on full display behind her, as she holds the garbage bin where she deposits tasks she has completed. Photo by Jodie Valade

Diamond Riley once used index cards to manage her schedule. Then she tried a paper planner. But after Riley, Administrative Assistant for the Dean of The Graduate School, discovered Post-it notes in “tropical” colors like orange sherbert and limoncello, she hasn’t looked at another organizational system again.

Now, Riley’s desk is a sea of miniature sticky square assignments: blue Post-its for reminders; green squares for her to-do list items, purple slips for personal notes and yellow squares for contacts.

“My co-workers who have been working with me for a long time know that if I’m not putting it on a Post-it, I’m not going to remember,” Riley said.

She’s tried electronic calendars, planners and lists but finds them overwhelming. Nothing else works like Post-it notes.

“Now, I need this system to survive,” Riley said.

A Needed Physical Reminder

Sarah Deuel doesn’t enjoy juggling multiple open windows on her computer screen during meetings. Trying to type notes pulls Deuel, Marketing Director for the School of Nursing, out of the moment. Sometimes, she can forget a digital file even exists.

“My physical notebook, on the other hand, demands attention,” she said. “It’s something I see, touch and carry every day, which makes the information feel more ‘real’ to me than files tucked away in folders.”

That’s why Deuel writes out notes during meetings and conversations, recording key points, ideas to explore later and due dates for assignments. At the end of each day, she reviews her notes and highlight her tasks: green for high priority, yellow for due later, and blue for ideas to propose later or lower priority.

And, of course, she’ll cross off items she has completed.

“Who doesn’t love the deeply satisfying feeling of crossing something off a to-do list? That part never gets old,” Deuel said.

A page from Sarah Deuel's paper planner with highlighted tasks — A page from Sarah Deuel's planner shows how she highlights tasks according to her priority system. Photo courtesy of Sarah Deuel

A Complex Integrated System

A photo of Alexis Pean's weekly planner — A couple pages from Alexis Pean's physical planner show her devotion to meticulous organization. Photo courtesy of Alexis Pean

Alexis Pean, an Emergency Department Technician at Duke University Hospital, is proud of the organizational system she’s created to manage her work and life, but she also knows it’s elaborate.

“Buckle up,” she warned before explaining how her electronic and paper systems combine.

A paper planner, two online calendars and occasional sticky notes are required to organize Pean’s days, tracking everything from personal, health and work goals to important dates, tasks, calls, emails and purchases.

Each night, she creates a fresh daily to-do list, adjusting for unforeseen curveballs or new priorities. If it’s not in a planner or calendar somewhere, it’s not getting done.

“This system allows me to keep up with as much as I can because the mental load in adulthood is heavy,” Pean said. “Once I write down a reminder or to-do list item somewhere safe, I offload it from my mind for the most part.”

Detailed Color-Coded Legend

Hilary Campbell's planner system includes an index that denotes what each color correlates to. Photo courtesy of Hilary Campbell

Hilary Campbell has always had strong opinions about writing instruments (never bigger than 0.5 mm, preferably 0.38 mm thickness) and notebooks (never wide-ruled, preferably dot grid).

But Campbell, Area Lead for Institutional Research and Analytics in the Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy, didn’t begin seriously searching for the perfect to-do list/planner system until 2024 when increased responsibility led to a need to prioritize.

She landed on a system that includes a daily planner from Hemlock & Oak (with a grid structure), where she lists tasks, plans and tracks her time in half-hour increments. At the back of the planner, she creates a legend, assigning a highlighter color to each project or type of work.

“The color-coding gives me a sense at a glance of what projects are taking the most effort as the year proceeds,” Campbell said.

A Planner as a ‘Best Friend’

If Rebekah Downs has a reputation with co-workers and friends alike, she has a pretty good idea of what it is.

“Anyone who knows me knows that I love a planner and I enjoy a good pen,” said Downs, a Service Access Team Leader for Duke Eye Center of Brier Creek.

Downs also serves as a patient service assistant, financial care counselor, cash manager, health equity liaison – and wife and mother of four. Her to-do list in her paper planner is “never ending.”

She uses colorful highlighters to emphasize important items and a red pen for her most urgent issues.

“My planner is my best friend,” Downs said. “It’s a safe place where I can keep my work and home life agenda planned out so my overwhelmed brain can get things done successfully and on time. Although it’s a very minimal investment, it keeps my mind at ease and that, to me, is priceless.”

photos of Rebekah Downs planner — Rebekah Downs calls her planner her "best friend." Photos courtesy of Rebekah Downs

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