Monday was a disastrous day. I had a list that included 7 things to complete. I failed miserably. Maybe this happens to you as well. I’m actually sure that most of the depression in the world is caused by to-do lists.
Let’s break it down into 3 problems with these lists.
And here they are:
- You name the list to-do. This immediately puts pressure on you. This stress builds throughout the day to the point that you can’t focus. You get agitated and become short-tempered. You find any excuse to procrastinate and yet you worry about not completing THE TO-DO LIST. Yes, you created this personal hell for yourself. And at the end of the day, your list remains untouched and you are burning in fire and brimstone.
- Your list is too long. Whether you prepared it the night before or in the morning your dopamine-charged self wrote it down. At that moment you were at the top of Mt. Everest and everything seemed doable. Wrong! You should never write a list when you are in euphoria. You need to reach a state of calmness before you create this monstrosity. Only then can you be honest about your true nature, which is to do nothing—ever. If you don’t believe me, ask Mel Robbins about this. She’ll tell you the truth, we are all freaking lazy. It doesn’t matter if it’s fun or not we just don’t want to do IT!
- Your tasks are too difficult. Yes, I said it, you are delusional at best with the things you write down on that piece of paper. I like to think that you write on paper and not type out your list on a computer as I do. LOL! For real, read your daily list. It sounds like you are building, growing, and marketing a company of 1000s. It is literally impossible to complete. I am not exaggerating, because I did it on Monday. I will never do it again.
OK, the solution.
The solution is simple. Write down your goals and paste them on your refrigerator, mirror, any place where you can see them every day. Don’t write paragraphs, bullet points will do. Your brain fills in the details.
My daily, monthly, yearly, and life goals are written down on a white eraser board. They are mere bullet points.
My daily TO COMPLETE list consists of 2 action items. I might include a super-simple third. But this is not a good idea. I will make sure to never do this again. I will only have 2 daily tasks going forward, no exceptions.
The daily goals are simple. They might be complete objectives or merely part of a bigger goal. It doesn’t matter. They are only 2 and they can be accomplished within 4 hours or less. Yes, I know I should be spelling out the numbers, but I’m keeping them in character form for emphasis.
Conclusion.
Don’t write to-do lists. Write TO COMPLETE lists. Your list should be completed daily, so make the tasks doable. I am not kidding — they must be simple enough that you can definitely finish them that day.
Your tasks must be working towards your goals that are posted somewhere in your house. Make sure your GOALS are at eye level for easy reading.
Enjoy the journey.
I share what I learn, observe, and experience. perezamigos.com