You Will Never Finish Your Damn To-Do List
A More Realistic Approach To Getting
Things Done
My to-do list covers a
lot of ground.
Right now, I have at least 16 things on it, and a
lot of them are not related. Some are about my kids, some about work. Some are
personal grooming activities.
There are times when my list gets so long that all
I can focus on is how much I have to do.
And, I’m a perfectionist. So I get this thought in
my mind. If I’m good enough at planning, if I plan everything right, I can get
everything done today.
There are some days that I can. Those are great
days.
But most days, I am left with several things that
didn’t get done.
It used to leave me a nervous wreck to think about
having things left on my to-do list at the end of the day.
But I set myself up for failure.
I’d set these vague goals — I need to “work on the
camp schedule”. Or, “finish that project” today.
I had no real idea what made up “the camp
schedule”, or what the steps were to “finish that project.”
Then I’d be so worried that I wouldn’t get to
everything, that I would hardly get anything done.
I’d focus too much on the giant, vague list.
Things have changed.
Now, I have a system. One that combats both the
volume of activities on my list, and the anxiety that the list creates.
Here it is:
Step One: Write down
every specific thing that needs to be done.
Not “work on camp schedule” I write down all the
steps. For example:
1.
pick 3 day camps for
kids for summer
2.
figure out weeks to put
them in camp
3.
sign up for each camp
4.
send medical forms to
pediatrician
5.
put pickup and dropoff
times and locations in family calendar
When you do this for each activity, its a lot
easier to see exactly what needs to be done. And how long a vague task like
“the camp schedule” will actually take.
Step Two: prioritize
the list.
Once you break it all down, it becomes easier to
see that not everything on the list will be done today. So, you need to
prioritize.
The key is to determine how much time you have in
a day, then pick a realistic number of activities to fill it.
Not all them. The most important ones for today.
Step Three: Accept that
you are not going to get to everything on your list today.
Yes, I know that your brain is telling you that
this not ideal. Maybe its even saying that its downright wrong.
But if you don’t accept that everything won’t get
done today, you’ll end up doing nothing. Because you will spend your
whole day managing your anxiety. Instead of executing on your tasks. Your
brain will get used up with overwhelm.
This can be the trickiest part of working on a
realistic to-do list. We often set unrealistic productivity goals for
ourselves. And then beat ourselves up for not achieving those goals. And
yet, we can’t give up the dream of the unrealistic goal.
We would rather dream of being the kind of person
who can execute an entire to-do list. Instead of the real life person who can
only get a few things done.
But once you hit your realistic goals, you get
positive feedback. And that will be the first step in breaking the
perfectionist cycle.
It can be very uncomfortable to give yourself
permission notto do everything. But try it once. See how much you
get done. Because in reality, its better to do 5 things than to expect to do 15
and end up doing 2.
Step Four: Schedule
Exactly When You will Do It All.
Banish anxiety and overwhelm on busy days.Make sure you schedule in
breaks. You are going to take them anyway. You need them. We all do. Instead of
losing steam after 30 minutes. And wandering unintentionally toward Instagram,
schedule specific breaks. 10 minutes to go outside. 15 minutes to read a book.
Step
Five: Execute.
You have developed your plan. You have managed
your mindset. Now you know exactly what to do and what is realistic to achieve
today.
Go forth and execute. With a clear head and the
specific steps to get you there.
Deb Knobelman
https://theascent.pub/you-will-never-finish-your-damn-to-do-list-6db52f3cff25
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