In a previous post, i alluded to me trying to organise my life by actually deciding what i want to accomplish everyday instead of drifting through the day, just doing stuff as i pleased.
For most people, making a todo list is an exercise in frustration. You make the list and most of the time, in the beginning it is ridiculously long because you set goals that are too big. And then when you look at the list, you realise that you won't be able to complete all the stuff in the todo list and decide that it's better to look at memes on the internet than actually getting stuff done.I've been making a todo list for almost a month now and i think i have a pretty good handle on making and actually implementing a todo list. Maybe you have made a New Year's resolution to make and follow a todo list? If you have, it's necessary to keep a few things in mind before making one.
These are things that i found out are useful in making a todo list and actually following it:
1. In the beginning, make a mental todo list to escape the psychic weight of a physical/digital one
If you don't know, Psychic Weight is the feeling you get when you see that you have 300 unread emails in your work inbox. It's the feeling you get when you see the list of books that you purchased a long time ago but still have not read because you prefer to spend your time upvoting memes on steemit. It's the feeling you get when you realise that the 8th season of Game of Thrones is going to come out in the next few months, but you still haven't even started to watch the first season.
Similarly, when you start out with a todo list, you're going to get that feeling of "stuff is pending". I know when it happens. It happens at 2 or 3 in the afternoon. You look at the list and you realise that you have done just a single thing the whole morning, and now the day's ending.
And then, you say,
"Eh, i'm not going to finish all this stuff in a single day. Might as well not do any of it."
The way to combat the psychic weight is to make a mental todo list in the beginning. When it's in your mind, you don't think of it as something that you strictly have to follow, which paradoxically increases your chances of following it.
2. Start out small, increase gradually
Another way to reduce psychic weight is to reduce the number of things on the todo list. **Just to be clear, just because something isn't on the todo list doesn't mean you can't do it. It's just that it's not a priority. ** This is something even i do from time to time. Make a small list, check it off relatively early, and then do other things.
3. Even if you fail, keep going
This is perhaps the most important point. In the beginning you are almost guaranteed to fail. But it's important to keep going.
I think the problem that most people face is that in the beginning they only do like 50% of the things on the list and then, when they look at the list at night, this is how they think about it:
"I couldn't complete even such a small list. What's the point of making lists when i can't follow them?"
Another way that people think about it:
"I have been following the todo list for the last week, but today i couldn't do it. All my progress the last week has been wasted"
Both of these thoughts are wrong.
Perseverence is key when doing anything. And when it comes to something like a todo list, there's a feedback loop, which means that the more you do it, the better you become at doing it. Today you only did 50% of the stuff. Keep making lists and keep trying to follow them. Next week, you'll do 60%. The week after that, 70%, and so on. Persevernce is key, and past progress is absolutely not lost just because of a single failure.
These are the things that I found useful to keep in mind when making a todo list. If you find this helpful, please resteem it so that other people can know about this stuff.
Sources:
Header image from pexels
"Psychic weight" image from pixabay