How are you going to memorise notes for preliminary? I would presume there to be very little, if at all, state ranking resources for the preliminary level. I myself are not a big fan of pure memorisation of other people's notes without doing any small summary of your own, because you have to bear in mind that notes, at the time they were written, state ranking or not, is often intended for personal use, so does not necessary includes all the information you need to know (because if the person writing it already know the information extremely well, they will not include that piece of information in their notes, but you might not know it). In general, it is better to process the information you learnt in your own words in some way-you will retain things for better (if you don't believe me, you can try). Sometimes textbook questions are a great avenue to consolidate your knowledge, so don't always go straight to past paper questions at the start of the year, start with textbook questions, then progress to past paper ones.
I have actually listed out the principles of a good to-do list earlier on this thread, just in case you missed it, I will copy and paste it in here again for your easy reference (these are things you need to take into account for a good to do list):
1)Always be realistic-don't assign excessive amount of work that you cannot achieved in the designated amount of time you have set aside for yourself
2)Make sure you are flexible-so you can make adjustments to your timetable/to-do list when extra-curricular and any other unforseen circumstances comes up.
3)Make sure you are studying at times optimal to your concentration and alertness level. Don't assign studying at night if you can't concentrate during that time
4)Include social activities, work commitments, relaxation time into your timetable/to-do list-a balanced lifestyle is essential for long term academic success
5)Make sure you follow your timetable/to do list as closely as possible and try not to have too many carry over tasks to add onto tomorrow's workload. With lots of trial and error, you will find a way of organising time that you will feel comfortable with and which works for you
My to-do list was a bit peculiar, in that I actually put more than was possible for me to finish in one day, so in that sense, it was a never ending to do list, I found that this way I was able to maximise my work efficiency. But obviously I still left time every day for myself to relax. I used my school diary to record key upcoming assessments and when different tests are coming up, strangely, ever since I started uni, I have never found the need to use a diary at all.
I did consider motivational speaking, but I can't drive, so that's a big deterrent