The Truth About To-Do Lists

Every morning I write a to-do list.

My daily goals are well-intentioned and, even though they may be ambitious (I am an adult child after all), seem perfectly feasible and reasonable at the start of the new day. But as the day progresses I start to run out of steam. What seemed so achievable in the morning becomes more out of my reach as the day gets older.

I often end my day feeling that things are left undone; there is unfinished business, items remain uncrossed on my to-do list. I very seldom achieve all that I set out to achieve on any given day.

For some time now I have been thinking that my ever-present still-to-do list exists because I am not productive enough. I don’t work hard enough. I’m not disciplined enough. I waste time….

Until I had an epiphany:

I’m not lazy or undisciplined. Nor do I lack focus and direction.

The idea that I don’t get enough done is not true. What is true is that I set unrealistic goals for myself.

I have been failing to take into account that every task I complete requires effort.

When I write my to-do list after a good night’s sleep I am working from a place of rest and regeneration. I am still feeling refreshed and invincible after a good night’s sleep. Nothing seems too hard or too much at the start of the new day.

But every time I accomplish a goal I expend some more energy. And the more energy I spend the less I have to carry on doing more tasks.

It’s like a see-saw: as the number of tasks completed moves up, so the levels of energy and enthusiasm move down.

I need to strike a realistic balance between my enthusiasm and my energy by setting realistic goals for myself:

• I’m going to write my to-do lists in a way that takes my flagging energy levels into account.
• I’ll plan to do things that require a lot of fire-power from me in the morning when I am still full of vim and vitality, and leave the things that require less effort for later in the day.
• I’ve also decided to divide my action lists into ‘must-dos’ and ‘nice-to-dos’. This way, I can be sure to accomplish the important tasks without wasting my precious resources on things that are less important.

I’m hoping this new approach is going to help me to be realistic about what I can and should be doing, and to do it.

I’m trading my still-to-do lists in for got-done lists.

 

 

Tags: coach | conserving energy | energy | getting things done | realistic goal setting | realistic goal setting still to do | still to do | to-do lists