I find that when a list is used for planning my day I get a lot more done. The most unproductive days in my life are random unplanned ones. However at the same time they create expectation about how much I should have done once the day was over versus the actual outcome. This can lead to disappointment and the worst emotion of all, guilt.
The To Do List Hot Tip
I was taught a great tip that when I heard it it was like an epiphany. Mark the items on you list that you plan NOT to do in the immediate future. Yes it works, it takes all that expectation and guilt away leaving only those items on your list that you will honestly have a chance of attending to in the immediate future. It’s so simple and perfect.
My derivative version of this tip
I just have a short list on my desktop of the things I’d like to get done today. I’m into simplicity and order. I guess it is one of the reasons I like Japanese gardens. The rest of my to do’s are in our Trac system for work related ones or in a Google Docs spreadsheet for all my home and family things.
It doesn’t have to be on paper
I like mental lists. On weekends a paper list feels like a list of chores, something that has power over me. Mental lists are better in my opinion. I’ll go over it several times a day. “Ok, what’s next, if i do ‘x’ now then ‘y’ will take half as long” etc.
Saturday night I got a call from a friend. “Let’s go fishing”, he said. I knew I had a lot to do around home on Sunday so this invite compelled me to get a mental list together of how I could make that day a success. I was going to have to pack a lot into 16 hours. So I did my mental list. Go fishing, clean the house, do some hard landscaping and swim with the kids. It might not sound like much but the landscaping was a lot of work. I got it all done but best of all I did extra things like putting the washing away and going for another swim/spa before bed. I bet if they were on my list I wouldn’t have got to it or if I didn’t quite get to do them I would have been disappointed.
Side Note: There’s nothing more satisfying than packing a lot into a day. I liken it to the difference between being in the stands at a football game versus being on the field playing in the game. The difference is participating fully in life.
You MUST have fun things on your lists
If your list is about stuff you have to do and don’t really want to do your doomed to fail completing things on your list when planned. Fun things on your list bring balance to the list. After all, it is your life you are doing!
