Schedule English: Schedules and To-Do Lists
| This is an entry in the “Schedule English” series. There will be more about schedules all week!
This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3) |
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We all have a lot to do. There is a lot to do for work. And, of course, there’s a lot to do for the family. In addition, I have my hobbies. And, of course, there’s fitness. How can I get all of that done in a single day?
The answer is organization. I have to organize my time. And I have to organize the projects I’m working on. The first is a schedule and the second is a to-do list.
When I organize my time, I make a schedule. A schedule is a plan of the things you want to do, with the times—and usually dates—that you want to do them. Some people can organize their schedule in their heads. Most of us, though, have to use some kind of written or electronic schedule.
For me, it’s a paper calendar: a tiny book just the right size for my pocket with two pages for every week. In this ‘planner,’ I can write down the plans I make with the time next to them. Then, when someone asks if or when I’m ‘free’—here, the word ‘free’ means I have time with nothing planned—I only have to get the planner out of my pocket and look. Because I often forget things, this system works well for me.
We use the word schedule as a verb, too. I can schedule a meeting or schedule a class. ‘To schedule something,’ simply means to plan a time for it. I can schedule dinner for six in the evening, and you can schedule your English lessons for tomorrow at ten in the morning. You can schedule anything, just by giving it a time.
Some things, though, I don’t schedule. These are things I want to do, but the time isn’t important. A good example is the work I do in the apartment. I have to:
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Wash the dishes
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Vacuum the living room
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Clean the cat toilet. . .
A list like that can get pretty long. But nothing on it has a special time. Nothing on it is scheduled. Instead, it’s a list of things for me to do. Or, it’s a to-do list.
You can have a to-do list for a specific project, with a list of the things that have to be done. Or, you can have a schedule at work, and a to-do list at home. My wife, it seems, always has a to-do list for me!
How do you organize your time? Do you have a schedule? Do you have one schedule for work, and one for your private life? Or do you use to-do lists? Maybe a mix of both schedules and to-do lists?
