The Power of To-Do Lists! by Abigayle

The Power of To-Do Lists! by Abigayle - February 2026 Scholarship Essay

There is nothing I love more than having a full and productive schedule. A big part of that comes from my involvement in different clubs and organizations that I attend weekly such as Eco League, LEO Club, Track Captains, and Student Council. I am also involved in cross country, indoor and outdoor track, NNDDC (NJROTC) where I am 3rd in command as the Operations Officer, a regional youth leader for my church, and work a part-time job. It is safe to say that I always have something going on and responsibilities to fulfill. The secret to not getting overwhelmed and falling short on all of these tasks is simple- make a to-do list!
At my elementary school every child is given a school agenda book where they write their assignments in order to keep track of everything, but at a certain age they no longer give those out. I became dependent on my agenda book growing up because it helped me to feel productive and responsible, so when they were taken away I immediately begged my mom to buy me a planner from the store. I continued to write down all of my work and as I got older I started making to do lists daily in order to keep up with everything.
These little lists take merely no time to create but save me countless hours. As something new will pop up such as an assignment, important date, or events, I immediately write it down and integrate it into the do-to list of the day it belongs to. In my academic life this helps me to ensure all of my work is completed on time and correctly, which allows me to have more peace of mind when I am not doing as much work on certain days. In my personal life I use to-do lists to keep focused on the tasks at hand. I get distracted very easily, so doing my laundry can turn into me running to the grocery store really fast. Tasks such as laundry, cleaning my room, vacuuming, and helping with household chores I tend to order in importance and time consumption. Doing this allows me to focus on the longest or most important things first which gives me more freedom/ flexibility on when to do the others. I prefer frontloading both my academic and personal responsibilities because I feel the only way I can truly relax is knowing that they are done.
To-do lists allow me to visually see all of the things that need done which makes me less stressed and more motivated to lock-in and just complete them. I am grateful for those elementary school agendas because they started a life-long obsession with organization and planning. My academic success has benefited from my habit and has made this stage of life- college and scholarship applications, degree plans, and future goals- less daunting because I know I can handle a full plate. Personally my responsibilities have only grown as I get older, but so has my capacity to manage my time efficiently thanks to these lists. I am always striving to be the best version of myself in all regards, and so far to-do lists have played a huge part in shaping me and my habits!