#1070 Getting S*** Done!

To-do list = STRESS. 

Lots of people write things down to reduce stress; that’s good! A list of items for vacation, well thought out in advance, reduces the “what am I forgetting” stress of heading out of town. A shopping list gleaned from the ingredients in a recipe you’ve read keeps you from frantically tearing apart the pantry for the much-needed nutmeg to finish your Bolognese. To-do lists, however, can add angst. The thought behind a list is to capture things more permanently than our unreliable memory can hold them. The difference with to-do lists is that they don’t consider time. A vacation or shopping list is something I walk down and collect, crossing each item off (doesn’t that feel good!) once it’s in the suitcase or cart. Most to-do lists aren’t like that.  

That’s why I’ve moved to time blocking. I will create chunks of inviolate time to write, research, or reach out in my to-do list. Including something like writing this blog as a to-do item adds stress when listed with other things that require less time and thinking. 

It sits there, nestled between calling the insurance company and Venmo Mike for the trip, acting as if it takes the same amount of time as its neighbors. I see it and think, “I don’t have time for that now,” and it haunts me. It distracts me, sitting there all innocent, like picking up the dry cleaning or sending a birthday card to Annie, but it’s not like those. It takes time.

So instead, my list looks like this:

• Call Lina about the insurance

• Venmo Joe $225

• Send a card to Annie

• 9:00-10:15 Write the blog

• Get the yoga class for Chelsea

• Arrange a meeting with Gary

• Check my book ads on Amazon

• Send the receipt to Christine

• 11:00 – 12:30 Make 20 outbound speaking calls

You get the idea. 

If I list making outbound calls or writing or researching the same way I list checking my book ads, the listing does not consider the time commitment and therefore promotes procrastination and induces stress. William James, the father of modern phycology, said, “There is nothing more fatiguing than the continual hanging on of an uncompleted task.”  

Make time, not lists.

Own Your Sales Gene…