For what it’s worth, I love to-do lists…but only when I can get them done.
There’s the rub.
To-do lists can be so satisfying. That little checkmark or cross off or scratch off can be the best part of your day. Looking at a completed list and then tossing it in the recycle bin can be just about the best thing EVER.
But looking at a daunting list that heads up Impossibility Mountain with 99 things to do in the next half hour is just about the worst thing ever. Especially if the first thing on the list is scooping up a winter’s worth of dogshit outta the yard.
(you know what I’m talking about.)
So, here’s whatcha do.
First, have a brain dump, or make some white space, as Marie Forleo calls it. Brain dump may be a little (or a lot) uncouth, but it perfectly describes what we are about to do.
Get a fresh piece of paper, or open a new page in your writing program. Set a timer (mine goes for 20 minutes, but if 5 is all you got, go for it) and write down every. last. thing. that you want to do today.
All the things. All of em. Even the ones that don’t make a lick of sense.
No judging. No editing. Just write like crazy.
Repeat yourself. Make absolutely no sense whatsoever.
But for whatever time you’ve alotted, write like a fiend.
When the timer goes off, get up. Have a breathe break. Get up, stretch, make a cuppa.
Now, think about how you want to feel today. Think about what it is that you want to feel, do, or accomplish today.
This might be a general sensation. This might be a very specific goal you are going for. But just think about it.
How do I want to feel, today?
Look at your notes again. See if anything in those notes aligns with how you want to feel today. It might be a little bit of a stretch.
“I’m going to go pick up poop outta the yard, so I can feel like I’ve taken care of my home, and helped it to be clean.”
And put those on a new fresh sheet or program page. Write em down. Then go do them.
And as you do them, remind yourself of how you want to feel, and why you are doing these things today.
When you do finally check em off your list, cross em out, throw that sheet away. Have a smile. Pat yourself on the back. Dance it out.
You did it!
And it didn’t suck.
Want to make unsucky to-dos part of your daily? Click here to get the Beginner’s Guide to Creating Rituals.