Stop being overwhelmed - use sand!

There are times when my to-do-list gets out of hand. It's worse when multiple things on the list are urgent, or particularly icky things to do. Usually I can get stuck in and work through it, but there are times when I seem to find anything else better to do. That list gets daunting sometimes! I read something recently that struck a chord with me, not because it was a new idea but because it was expressed so well.

The person used the analogy of an hour glass. Basically the idea is to tackle one grain of sand at a time. What's the next best thing to do right now? Do that thing. If you tackle each grain of sand eventually you'll have made your way through the list.

I usually have that approach. I start with the quickest or easiest and as the list shortens it isn't as scary.

How do you manage your to-do-lists?