Mar 29thThe To-Do or Not To-Do List

Do You Have a Big To-Do List or Is It a Not To-Do List

Do you get frustrated, wigged out, depressed, or feel pressured because your to-do list is so big, or do you call it your not to-do list? So many times I see people get all stressed out because they have no idea how they are going to get everything done.
Are you one of those that stresses out because you didn’t get something important done?
Well relax, have a cup of coffee, and just chill for a minute. There are ways to cope with these situations that are a lot easier than you think.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM-I-pkt21M?rel=0]

Throw Away Your To-Do List Right Now

So you say you have a to-do list that needs to get done, so what! Throw it away right now. We are going to take this one step at a time, and start from scratch. Grab a pen and paper (did you get that cup of coffee), take a deep breath, and let’s get started.
The first thing you need to do is determine what needs to be done right now. And let’s be serious here for a second. I am not talking about rearranging the medicine cabinet or something silly like that. I am talking about the important things, like for instance, do you have a blog? Then make that your number one priority. Or maybe you have kids that are in sports and they have to be at practice or a game at a certain time. If so, make getting them to where they need to be a priority. See my point?

You Need To Prioritize Your List

Now that you have all the important things written down, you need to prioritize your list. Put everything in order of importance, not just the first two or three items. A good way to set priorities is to ask yourself what the impact would be if they don’t get done. And be truthful with yourself, don’t fudge because what you have to do is hard or might take too long.
One way that will help is allow yourself some type of reward for getting things done, even if it just some small token, such as taking 5 minutes to have a cup of coffee in a quiet place. It will really make a big difference in how you approach things during the day.

Make Your To-Do List a DO List

Don’t overload your to-do list; make it a list that you can actually DO. If you have reasonable goals set, it is much easier to accomplish them and get them off your list. My friend Arthur Partridge has a blog that talks about this very thing. He is among other things, a master practitioner of neuro linguistic programming and relates to how this can change even the way we think. Give him some blog love and read his stuff. It is usually pretty short, like my to-do lists are, but speaks volumes.