How to deal with to-do lists
One of my clients came to me not wanting to face each day even though she loved her job and had a lovely partner. She found herself stressed, constantly fatigued, with an inability to enjoy her life. Through our work together, she is now bouncing back from things that would have made her upset in the past very quickly and enjoying every single day making the most of her time with her kids.
The never-ending to-do list is the bane of many working moms’ existence. It can cause a lot of suffering if you let it.
Acceptance of this list is critical. Accept that it’s never-ending; even when you check things off, new things find their way onto it.
Keeping this in mind, we can decide to make our peace with it. As our frenemy, it will always be there, but we need to learn to live with it because it’s not going anywhere.
You’ve got your work to-dos and life to-dos. Sometimes people may even ask you to do things for them, which creates even more to-dos!
Refer to the episode on boundaries for learning how to say no to stop unnecessary stuff from making it onto your list
Categorize to-dos, with the most urgent being the most important or time-sensitive. Make sure to take time to do these weekly. Set aside 30 minutes weekly to take care of nagging tasks.
Compartmentalize the to-do list. Decide not to think about it when you’re not working on it during its designated time.
Take a break
Have faith in yourself that you’ll always get everything done on your to-do list just like you have and just like you always will.
How I make sure my to-do list doesn’t overtake or bother me, and how I have power over it.
I make my to-do lists on fancy stationery I’ve had custom-made via Etsy. That makes them more fun to look at and interact with
I acknowledge that the to-do list will always exist and will never be complete
This allows me not to sweat it or allow it to cause me stress. Instead, I make peace with the to-do list as a frenemy knowing it will never go away.
Doing a few things that are easy when you don’t feel like doing anything, i.e., small tasks
Check boxes or crossing off; you may already do this
Saying no to extra things you don’t have time for…even to your parents, husband, boss, whomever (power of no episode)
Prioritize the absolutely have-to-get-done stuff
Enrollment is open for my group coaching program for professional moms who are mentally exhausted in survival mode and want to enjoy the life they’ve worked so hard for. Book a call at priancanaikmdcoaching.as.me and apply to work with me. I would love to talk to you; the link is in the show notes.