Just "To-Do" It Having trouble getting organized? Start by getting a grip on your to-do list.

Every Sunday, John Madden creates a to-do list for the upcomingweek. The co-founder of Contemporary Audio in Okemos, Michigan, jotsdown a dozen or so items-everything from attending a networkingevent to creating outlines for projects, such as a new brochure forthe 11-employee audio and home entertainment products retailer.

"Every morning," Madden adds, "I write down ahalf-dozen things based on my weekly plans." These includeto-dos on weekly projects and to-dos he didn't get to the daybefore. "I feel good if I can get 50 percent of my listdone," he says.

Other entrepreneurs tell similar stories about to-dos, accordingto a survey last year of 2,000 mostly small-company executives byNFIResearch of North Hampton, New Hampshire. "Abouteverybody-95 percent-keeps a list of things to do," says ChuckMartin, CEO and chair of NFI and author of Managing for the Short Term: The New Rules forRunning a Business in a Day-to-Day World. "Theoverwhelming majority have six to 20 items on their lists. And lessthan 1 percent get everything done on the list every day."