If you’re struggling with your to-do list, read this…
A letter for the overwhelmed performers…
To-do lists are very therapeutic.
You’re having trouble sleeping at 11 PM?
Make a to-do list of habits you want to change.
You failed a PR at the gym? Make a list of all the things you need to correct to get the next one.
You want to reach 10k/mo with your business by the of the year?
Make a to-do list of all the things that you need to do to achieve that dream outcome.
You had a fight with your better half?
Don’t make a list, just apologise and then take her to her favourite restaurant.
Then buy her, her favourite flowers.
Forever.
The problem,
You don’t have enough time in the day to do everything.
You think you do but you really don't.
You then cram everything into one single day thinking that you're going to feel better after it gets done.
Instead, you've drained your energy and you didn't complete even half of your tasks.
The problem with creating a long to-do list is the amount of inertia you have when you’re ready to do the things you said you were going to do,
And then you realise you have 150 boxes to check.
We have time, yes.
24 hours of it, everyday for about 80 years. (Give or take)
That's about 4000 weeks.
But we can’t do everything in those 24 hours.
If we could, that would just be perfect wouldn’t it?
Give time to God.
Build a business,
Maintain a social life,
Read 20 pages,
Film content,
Post consistently,
Go out,
Meet new people.
Volunteer at the animal shelter.
Gym.
Run.
Swim.
Cold plunge.
Sauna.
Date night.
I call this list paralysis.
It’s not as daunting when you’re looking at it like this,
But try having 200 more of those on the page.
It can be overwhelming.
Especially when ideas are flowing and you enter the flow state.
Your to-do lists get made and some of you never look at them again.
Then you feel scattered and confused because your time goes nowhere and you have no idea what you’re actually doing with it.
You’ve heard this before: “you can’t do it all”
At least not all at once.
But we can do a lot over a long period of time.
People overestimate what they can do in a day, but underestimate what they can do in a year.
The key…
Use your calendar.
If you want to give your to-do list a lifespan, and bring to your conscious mind,
Put everything you want to do in your calendar.
This doubles as a time-management hack because you see where your time is actually going.
Talk tomorrow,
Keyur
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