Our To-Do lists are ever evolving. Maybe you have one long list that just keeps getting added to. Or perhaps you have it separated by the week and assigned the tasks to their proper day. When we create a new list, it looks so pretty and ready to conquer. Very quickly though it gets messy, as some things get crossed off and others get added, then we move some of the important tasks we didn’t get to today to tomorrows calendar. Before we realize it, our not so urgent to-do items we had 3 weeks to accomplish are now down to the last day and we have no time. What’s worse is now when the unexpected obstacles show up it makes our emergency even harder to handle. The banking errand can’t get done because they closed on that random Tuesday for their community outreach program. The damaged phone we needed the pictures for a funeral isn’t quick and easy since the repair shop doesn’t have the needed parts in stock and we showed up 2 hours before they close for the weekend.
These people wait for the first snow to hit before they even think of putting on snow tires or getting the brakes taken care of. They get impatient with the clerk helping them because they now have 2 hours of errands to fit into 1 hour. This stress spills over into how they interact with their kids as they are getting ready to go. This person knows how long it takes to get out the door and what traffic is like getting to their destination, but they still don’t start the prep work of getting things ready and by the door until the last minute. Then they throw around the phrase “We are always running late” as if it’s a badge of honor and they have no control in changing what leads to it.
The saying “Don’t put off till tomorrow, what you can do today” is a hard one to reconcile with. Our first reaction is to start listing all of the things we did today that left no time for anything else. I would say yes, most people are very busy, but there is a lot of wasted down time. 10 min here, 15 min there, an hour at night we are scrolling social media or doing other nonproductive things. This all adds up to enough time to handle some of the most put off tasks. We may have many great reasons we didn’t use that time wisely. “I didn’t have the mental energy,” “There is too many distractions going on right now,” or “I can’t delegate because it won’t get done exactly how I want it to.” Having the dishes done is more important than having them organized perfectly and never dropped.
The biggest reason we find ourselves in a bind is two-fold; not being organized and letting other non-urgent things take priority over urgent things. The non-urgent things can be noisy and in our face. The laundry or dishes piling up, the emails and texts coming in, and the never-ending errands. There are many things that can feel urgent but probably can wait a few days or at least don’t have to be on the exact day we had planned. When we create our to-do list, we want to ask questions like what is the timeline I have to complete this? Who is affected by this? What are the problems that could arise if it gets put off too long? (ie. price change, availability, added fees, safety, etc.)
The next thing to do is to look at our calendar and see if we are doing too much. Have we committed to too many activities? Do we have the time and energy to fit in what we planned to do on that day? Is there things we can delegate to our spouse or kids to help spread out the responsibilities? Our calendar is something that steers our life in more ways than we may give it credit. Many times we let others dictate what we put on our calendar, and what takes priority. It is easy to say yes to something and then when the day arises, we feel the stress of what is involved in bringing it to fruition. Or worse we skip out on our commitment and leave other people hanging or let down because we didn’t keep our word. The key to keeping our calendar balanced is to be wary of what we say yes to. We can always add things in later, but it is very hard to remove a commitment without some kind of sacrifice.
Once you have had a hard look at your calendar and what is truly important at this point in your life, it is time to determine the big things that are time sensitive. Put that to-do on the day that gives plenty of time to achieve it. Even if it has to get pushed back a couple days, there is still plenty of time to make it happen long before absolutely needed. Set yourself up for success by putting it in a time slot that is big enough and without other distractions, where you are mentally awake and energized to do it efficiently. This could be in the morning before work, or first thing on the weekend.
The last thing to think about is our need for perfection. This idea of “Do it right or don’t do it at all” can paralyze us into inaction. We know to do it right is going to take X amount of time. In a perfect world this would be easy. But we don’t live in a perfect world. We live in a world of opportunities that come and go, health that comes and goes, and distractions that can easily take the leading headlines in our life. Instead of only doing something when it can be done right, we can just start it. A finished project that is 80% good, is better than a never started project that has the “potential” to be 100%. So many of the things in our life have the opportunity to grow into many other unexpected things if we just take the time to get started. Our vision when we start may look entirely different than where it ends up. At least we will feel accomplished because we finally started, and that feeling is very motivating to keep checking off more on our “get-to list”.
So lets be proactive in our to-do list. Stop putting things off and stop letting every little thing distract us from what is important or truly time sensitive. The things that you don’t want to do the most, do them first. Say good bye to the last-minute club and hello to a stress free tomorrow.