This is my desktop, and these colored notes let me keep track of everything I need to do today and in the near future. I can update them instantly and add another note even if I am in the middle of a project if I suddenly realize I need to find a dentist or buy cat food.
After years of trying to track multiple projects with action item lists and scraps of paper, I discovered an app that runs on Windows and works for me. I am using Simple Sticky Notes, which is fast and uncomplicated, but there are many more sticky note applications that provide expanded features like text editing and images.
Simple Sticky Notes is brutally simple in that you can click on any existing sticky and create a new sticky note in any color and size you need without going back to some home page and fiddling around with a menu.
I find that I need about three sticky notes for what I am doing now and another four or five to keep track of what is coming next. This has increased my productivity to the point that I have been able to clean my office and my desktop for the first time in several years.
I think the difference is this keeps each of the important actions right in front of me and lets me prioritize them on the fly as situations change. If something becomes more important, I can change the color to reflect the urgency and increase the size until it dominates the screen. I can also make the sticky notes float on top of everything else or stay quietly in the background until I am done with the task I am on.
If something needs to be put off, I can downsize the sticky and change the color to a muted shade of blue. It stays on the desktop but can be put in the corner until I can take care of it.
There are sticky notes for other operating systems, and I now have a version that works on my LG Stylo cell phone.
If you are feeling swamped, it may be that you are trying to keep track of too many tasks with memory alone. Try using this kind of sticky note and see if it frees up your attention and makes you more productive.