Do you have a list of things to do today?
Sure you do!
It might be on paper . . . on multiple scraps of paper . . . “Tasks” in your CRM . . . email reminders . . . smartphone beeps . . . or in your head.
Thing is . . . most all of us work from a list and wander through our days checking things off our list as we go.
The list is there for 3 main reasons:
- It’s a place to gather new ideas of things to do now or in the future
- It’s a tool for deciding “What’s next?” throughout your day
- When the day is done, it might serve as a good “archive of things you’ve accomplished over time.
Pathological List People use their lists as Mental dumping grounds. They tend to hoard ideas and “things to do” in a never-ending (and very intimidating) compilation of everything from “Change the rabbit cage” to “Find life on Mars” . . .
Like the attic or crawl space in their houses, these folks’ lists accumulate EVERYTHING imaginable “just in case they might need it later.” This pays off accasionally but often creates overwhelm and results in INACTION.
“My list is SO long!”
“HOW could I POSSIBLY do it all?”
“I’m SO BUSY!”
“I MUST be IMPORTANT with all of these things to do!”
While this practice is useful in the sense that it provides plenty of reasons to whine and complain . . . . I say: “Clean out your attic and crawl space (your list) and REALLY take a look at what’s there . . . What’s there that really doesn’t need to be there?”
Or better . . . “What’s NOT there that “Should” be there?”
Is loving on your family there?
Taking your dog for a run?
Treating yourself to a hike in the park or a mid-day swim?
Coffee or burgers with a friend?
We can be “List Driven” til the day we die, and we can pull all those lists out and “prove” all that we have accomplished.
My question: “Is that really LIVING?”
So . . . Build your list and work from that list every day . . . Just do yourself (and those lucky people who you have in your life) a favor by intentionally considering every day what should be there that isn’t 🙂
Just sayin’
Best,
b
PS – I call this “Simply & BOLDLY Living the FourFold Way in Open Space!”
TAKE CHARGE!
🙂