3 Tips to Mastering Your ToDo List

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  • Do you wake up each day feeling overwhelmed?  
  • Does your never-ending To Do list weigh on you while you lie in bed at night?
  • Do you go to bed feeling like you barely scratched the surface of what you wanted to accomplish, yet you are completely exhausted?

If you answered yes, to any/all of the above, then you can join the majority of women around the country.

Somewhere between the 1950’s and today the expectations of what women feel they are “supposed to” accomplish in a day quadrupled. Why are we so hard on ourselves? Who set this immeasurable expectation that we are trying to live up to? How can we get off this crazy merry-go-round of life?

Work, Home, Career, Kids, Aging Parents, Environmental Concerns, Safety…these are all things that we deal with on a daily basis.  How can that not be overwhelming?

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So what’s the answer?  Start by lowering the bar.

Yep, you heard me right.  In the age of everyone setting this incredibly high bar of expectation, I am asking you to lower it. You can’t do it all alone, no one can. So stop trying to reach unattainable goals that set you up for nothing but frustration, anxiety and defeat.

Here’s how to start:

1. Write down everything on your “to-do” list.

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“Brain Dump” everything: laundry, carpool, making dinner, getting a report to your boss, scheduling a doctor’s appointment (you get the gist).  If you’ve ever completed a food diary, this is similar.  Once you see everything on paper you will understand why you are exhausted and overwhelmed.

2.Choose the 3 most important tasks for today.

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This may sound crazy, but trust me for a minute.  You probably can (and do) complete more than 3 tasks in any given day (heck, you probably do more than 3 in an hour).   There is no doubt we can fill our day with tasks, however, to truly have a sense of accomplishment, you’ll want to be mindful in selecting only a few key things to complete and prioritize them FIRST.  Everything after that is gravy!

3. Reward Yourself.  

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Take a moment to bask in the validation for completing your goal. Get a cup of coffee, take a walk, call a friend; A little reward goes a long way. If we constantly “go-go-go” without recognizing our accomplishments we are more likely to burn out.

We all want to be the best (_____) we can be, and there is nothing wrong with that. However, we spend too much time stressing over what we could and should be doing, rather than recognizing everything we ACTUALLY do in any given day.

As the craziness of the holiday season surrounds us, be mindful of these 3 steps, so the next time you lie down to sleep you will realize that you are a lot closer to being Superwoman than you give yourself credit.

Happy Organizing!