How to love your To-do list.

To-do lists cause lots of drama.

The anxiety, overwhelm and subsequent procrastination from the tasks on our to-do lists can take up hours of our day…….and suck all of our energy.

So, what do we typically do about it?

Distract ourselves.

We go to the fridge.

Check Instagram.

Play a game on our phone.

Spin through email.

Go back to the fridge.

All to escape the one thing we actually need to do.

Why?

You know it’ll only take you an hour to write that email, get groceries, clean your kitchen…..so why not just do it already?

I have a guess……

You think if you don’t do it a certain way, or just right, or totally finish it…..it won’t be Good Enough.

But listen…doing something for 5 minutes is always better than doing nothing.

And I’ve got an even crazier thought for you…..

When you accept the reality that there will always be a list, you free yourself from the tension of trying to always rid yourself of it.

Accept it and you release yourself from its grasp.

And actually, you can even learn to love it.

Wait! What! How?

When you say, “I need to get all this DONE!” or its pesky cousin….

“How am I ever going to get this all done?”

How does that make you feel?

Like you’re running on a gerbil wheel, right? Running behind? A total slacker? Not Enough?

And when you feel like it’s never going to be Enough, what do you do?

Ignore it? “I’ll do it tomorrow. First! Ben and Jerry’s” or…..

Complain about it? “I’m just soooooo busy.”

But what if you did neither of those things?

What if you just decided that having a list is part of life. Just like brushing your teeth, making a living and paying your taxes.

When you DECIDE that a To-do List is not only a fact of life, but actually a Good Thing……..

You take control of it and stop being a victim to it.

Go buy yourself some bitchin’ paper and a sparkly pen. Or open a google doc.
Do a complete brain dump. Write everything down that you need to do. It’s important to empty your head.
Organized and prioritize.
Put it somewhere prevalent and get determined.
Check off priorities one by one.
Add to the list as necessary (because that’s life).

And guess what?

Sh*t gets done. And with a lot less angst and drama.

My to-do list helps me get all the junk in my brain, out, and down on paper.

It actually helps me to relax because I don’t have to think about it anymore.

And when I accept that I’ll always have a To-do List and I can get “all the things” I have to do up in my brain rattling around down on paper……

I feel in control, relaxed and accomplished.

Life is good when you have sh*t to do. It beats the alternative…..boredom.

Traci