Too Much To-Do
Making a to-do list is incredibly helpful in achieving goals. It’s recommended. Personally, I love lists. Crossing things off is such a satisfying feeling. As much of an endorphin high as when finishing a mile run, in my opinion. My father-in-law used to call me Type AA - aka, I was so organized and list-oriented that it drove him crazy.
Sounds like a great way to live, right? If you’re Type A like me, then yes! If you lean towards a Type B personality (more lax, go-with-flow type) then that definitely won’t sound fun to you. My friend Tim loves ignoring the clock, being a free spirit, and not stressing himself out with things like lists. But Tim struggles with forgetting important things by living his life this way. He wishes he were a tad more organized and efficient. He loves learning how top CEOs and successful entrepreneurs structure their day, their habits to being successful.
When Tim tries to make lists, however, he puts down every little thing he can think of that needs to be done. He gets it out of his head and onto paper, then feels overwhelmed by it all. Where to start? How will he get it all done? How much of that list requires the cooperation of others to complete? I’ve worked with Tim a lot on this. Here are three steps to not being overwhelmed by your to-do list:
Brain Dump - Tim got this first step right. For how he processes, he needs to dump everything in his head onto paper (or computer) that needs doing. So he does just that. Create a long list of everything you can think of that needs to be done.
Categorize - More than likely, you’ll have items on your list that fit into various categories. Home, work projects, various classes, etc. Create the categories that they fit under and sort the tasks or to-dos accordingly.
Prioritize - Keep this simple. Go through one category at a time. Pick the top 3 tasks you need to do. Label them as 1,2,3. From there, rearrange the order of the tasks by priority, but don’t worry about numbering them or being too picky about the exact order it needs to be done. Do this for each category.
Assign Due Dates - For your top three tasks of each category- set a due date. Now, think reasonably about this. Keep perspective. Don’t set due dates for end of day tomorrow on everything unless it truly seems attainable. You don’t want to set yourself up for failure here.
Don’t Stop - This may be the hardest step for many of us. After making a list and working off it for a day or two, we find ourselves falling back into old habits. Typically, the list gets forgotten. It gets ditched due to the busyness of life. Do Not Stop using your to-do list. When you cross something off, choose what takes its place in the top three of that category. Set that due date.
Challenges/Points:
Keeping a to-do list can be tedious and overwhelming, but there are ways to make it manageable.
You’re not the only one who may struggle with this. There are many out there constantly trying to get their lives more organized.
Take one step today to start getting control back in your life - whether that be making a to-do list, updating a previous one, or crossing out another task with renewed energy.
Questions:
Can you identify where you struggle most when it comes to completing tasks in your life?
Perhaps it’s not a to-do list that’s difficult, but the motivation to follow through. What is one thing that keeps you motivated that you could apply to this checklist method?
Identify which spots you get stuck at. Why do you seem to get stuck there the most? Is there a friend that you could ask to help keep you accountable?
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