It is good to have to do lists - don’t let them take over…
It is that time of year again in the run up for Christmas, we all have way too much to do still and too little time to actually do it. The ones of us that at least think they are organized with all the Christmas mayhem each year, create to do lists do not forget anything we might think to be important to tick-off. While to - do lists are great because yes, they do lead to less risks of forgetting things and being potentially slightly more organized and anxious, we need to be careful that we end up being in charge of the list and for our lists and to-dos to take ownership of us. This way, we might forget to enjoy Christmas all together as we end up chasing all of our to-dos. Hence, a few words of advice how to not fall into that trap.
No doubt, to-do lists are great and I myself can simply not live without them. They are great to capture things you might otherwise forget and also to help organize your time in the most efficient way. Alos, I don’t know about you, but the feeling when you tick things off your list is just amazing and makes you feel awesome and productive. We need to however make sure we are following a realistic approach about those lists and don’t overwhelm ourselves with too high expectations of what we can do with our time that we end up not meeting. This will then very quickly lead to frustration a disappointment, which might lead to the wrong conclusion to abandon lists all together.
Rule number one therefore should be to manage expectations, You only have a certain number of hours to use in the day and things like sleep and break times are as important as ticking things off your list. Be realistic on what you can and can’t do and learn to push back where you think things are not essential to do at this point in time.
The second point is to rigorously learn to prioritize. There are things before Christmas that are absolutely essential to do (and those very often are way less than we think) and those that can surely wait until you have a bit more headspace and time. To put our tasks at hand in categories of different priorities is key to learn to use our limited time and resources in the best way.
Lastly, it is ok to not tick everything off the list and carry things over. You don’t have to complete the entire list all the time as planned. Things happen or unexpectedly get in your way and that is totally fine and leads to changes in priorities which is why some of the to-dos on your list might have to wait. To-do lists should be as dynamic as your life is and therefore it is ok if one day you were less productive in getting things over the line than on others.
It is almost Christmas, so don’t get overwhelmed by your to-do lists. Learn to prioritize, push back and take time to relax and spend quality time with family and friends as well. You own your to-dos, not the other way round - always remember that.
