I love me a good “to-do” list. In face I’ve lots and lots of bits of paper and notepads, all choca-block full of well-intended scrawl. In many previous attempts to organize my “to-doing” I’m sure that I have singlehandedly kept Officeworks in business.
Ahhhooooohsighhhhh stationery fetish, but I digress.
I’m finding myself currently swamped with have-to-dos, should-dos, could-dos, want-to-dos and doubtful-I’ll-get-to-its. The number of tasks I’ve crammed onto my scrappy lists is not necessarily the problem, the issue is my conversion rate. It’s actually disgraceful as very few tasks are progressing from the to-do, to the doing, let alone the done column.
And yet the ideas keep coming, those lists keep multiplying and progress is slow, if not at a standstill some days. Stop for a bit busy brain … please!
I’ve decided that with a chaotic time of year on the horizon (well helllllllo Christmas, how long till you swing by??) I’m going to undo the screws and take the pressure off a bit. Step back, simplify, prioritise a little bit more wisely. Nah, probably not, but I am going to pull my finger out and organize what NEEDS doing as opposed to what WANTS doing so at least some things get DONE!
That means the to-do job for today is to consolidate ALL of those built-up tasks into a single list – ranked according to urgency, looming deadlines and fun-worthiness (obviously some will rank higher than others), cross at least one of those pesky tasks off and not stress about what yet remains to do. If it’s not urgent then it can still be done tomorrow … or even the day after …..
See? Mindful breathing, permission to not feel snowed under, a kind of zen moment and it’s better already
What’s a sure fire strategy you’ve used to escape from drowning in the sea of overwhelming?
Or are you an Officework-lovin’-list-junkie too?
It’s Tuesday! So, again I’m linking up with Jess’s IBOT …… over at her lurvely new-ish home Essentially Jess!
Have you checked it out yet, because it’s awesome!!
photo credit: Great Beyond via photopin cc