Trash Those To Do Lists

Whether you've got a full time job or a side hustle or if you're a full-time homemaker wrangling grocery lists and home schooling and self-care, it's been hard to get stuff done these days, hasn't it?

In the beginning, (LOL it feels like this pandemic has already lasted an age), even a quick look at my to-do list would send me off into a spiral of overwhelm. 

A constant diet of news didn't help either. Then I came across this article ( as you do when you constantly look up self improvement books and articles) that mentioned Done lists. I'll wait if you want to give it a quick skim.

https://www.self.com/story/done-lists


Sick of being asked to read more articles....I got you, babe! ;)

To give a basic summary, the author asks us to do away with our painful To Do lists (if they make you cry like they did me) and adopt Done Lists. On the days when I sat down at my work computer at 11:13 am and was already feeling behind and overwhelmed, this list made me put down:

1. Drank 2 cups of coffee
2. Talked for 6 min with Hubster and hugged him twice
3. Made Breakfast for girls
4. Had a protein rich breakfast
5. Emptied Dishwasher
6. Cleared the counter
7. Called Mom
8. Whats-Apped aunt in India
9. Showered, dressed and tamed wild eyebrows.


And so on and so forth...

I went from feeling like Blah to Wow I've already done 9 things this morning. And I did more things - reading an article I'd bookmarked over coffee, helping 9 yo with Math, Editing 5 pages - just to put them on the list and check them off when they were done.

I have to tell you it was a fantastic feeling, and it continues to work for me two months in. Sometimes, I'll add a note of gratitude there, sometimes, I'll write down what's making me anxious but the DONE list is right there to give me a little push. 


Does this mean we have to ditch our to do lists completely? Not at all, whatever the click-baity title says :) .

I'm a huge planner addict and I still make monthly and yearly plans BUT for now, I have adapted my daily planner for my Done List. Even when I think I've done nothing, there's at least 3 to 4 tasks that I have finished and it gives me a much needed jolt in these stressful times.