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Three things, then stop

ADHD To-Do List Template

A to-do list built around how attention actually works when it is scarce: three tasks, not thirty, each with a minutes guess and a first tiny step written down so starting is not a decision; a short if-there's-time list capped at five; a brain-dump box where everything else goes so it stops interrupting; and a done-today box, because the finished things disappear from ordinary lists and the unfinished ones stay to accuse you. High contrast, big boxes, nothing decorative. Excel counts the minutes; the PDF is the one to print.

Three formats

The three-things list, three ways.

Excel — minutes planned

Three tall rows with a ✓, a minutes cell, and a first-step cell; the sheet adds the minutes and counts 2 of 3 done; the if-there's-time list and brain dump below.
ADHD-friendly to-do list in the bold look with three tall rows for just three things with minutes and a first tiny step, a five-line if-there's-time list, a brain-dump box, and a done-today box
PDF

Printable PDF

The printable in the bold look: heavy title, big boxes, high contrast, one page. Print a stack.
Download PDF

Word (.docx)

The same page as a Word document for people who type the three things first thing.
Worth knowing

The done-today box is the point, not a bonus.

Ordinary lists record failure by default: what is finished vanishes, what is not stays. For anyone whose attention is unreliable, that is corrosive. The done-today box flips it — small things go in as they happen, and by evening the page shows a day that contained work, whatever the top three did.

Guess minutes, then double them, then decide. The minutes column is not for accuracy; it is for noticing that three tasks marked twenty minutes each are, in reality, the whole afternoon.

Two questions per task
Priority To-Do List
Urgent? Important? The quadrant computes.
Open →
Blocks instead of a list
Hourly To-Do List
Half-hour slots for a day that needs a shape.
Open →
The plainest list
Simple To-Do List
Box, task, notes. Nothing else.
Open →

Frequently asked questions

Why only three tasks?
Because a long list is a wall, and the wall is where the day gets lost. Three is a number that can be held in mind without the page, and finishing three is a real day — the ordinary list where nine of twelve get done reads as failure. Everything else has a place: the if-there's-time list or the brain dump.
What is the first tiny step column for?
Starting is the hard part, so the sheet asks for the smallest possible first action next to each task — open the drafts folder, find the phone number — and that is what you do, not the task. Once the first step is done the task usually follows; the column is there to make the first step small enough that it does.
How is the brain dump different from a to-do list?
It has no boxes. Things go in so they stop circling; nothing in it is a commitment. Once a day, read it and move at most one item to tomorrow's three. The rest can stay, be crossed out, or be forgotten with a clear conscience.
Is this a substitute for a planner or an app?
It is the daily page, not the calendar. Appointments live in a calendar; this is the sheet that decides what today is for. Many people print a stack, keep one on the desk, and throw it away at night — the throwing away is part of the design.
Updated through September 2026