I had an editor in the early part of my career who would get things done really fast. You would send him a story for editing, and in a flash it would be back in your inbox, with the body of the text saying "Done!"
Or he may have just used a period (in British English, a full-stop). Or maybe there wasn't any punctuation at all, just: "Done"
But no matter what, that man was efficient. And at the time, the opposite of me -- a chronic procrastinator.
I'm less of a procrastinator now, but I still am constantly looking for ways to motivate myself to just get things done sooner rather than later, a constant challenge for me. And probably part of the reason I've always been a to-do list maker. Far easier to make lists of things to do, than actually do them! But then they would make me depressed about how much I have to do. So instead, I've started keeping a "Done" list.
How much better is it to think about all that you've actually accomplished, instead of all you still have to do? Because the list of things one has to do -- or wants to do -- never really gets shorter, it's much more satisfying to see what you have accomplished during the day. You can also add those things that cropped up which you didn't know you'd have to do, and even better, you can also put fun or really rewarding things on the list that you did.
I really like sitting down at the end of the day and jotting down what got done (although to be fair, I have always been a diarist, so this may not be for everyone). I keep my lists in a nice notebook. It's kind of my version of a bullet journal -- literally -- bullet points about my day. I keep everything together too -- no separation between work and home life, as that would be too complicated.
This also helps me to practice gratitude. We're often so caught up with all we have to do, all there is we haven't done in life, and all that we think we need, or want. There are a million ways to be unhappy and there are a million things to feel inadequate about. But I think that there's only one way to be truly happy: to be grateful for what you have already -- and to feel like you have just enough.
For those who love the nitty gritty detail, I do still have to keep a sort of list of reminders of what does need to get done unfortunately. Just because I can't possibly remember everything I'm working on. I have an ongoing list of projects and reminders and each morning I look at that and jot down what in particularly needs to get done that day on a sticky note. Then I use that note to help me remember everything I did. (So I suppose I technically still have a to-do list. But it doesn't make me feel bad anymore because I know it will eventually become part of my "Done" list.)
I have been meaning to write this post for ages, and was annoyed with myself for not doing it sooner when I found a very similar article on Apartment Therapy recently -- and strangely written by someone called Taryn! And then on Gretchen Rubin's podcast it was also mentioned just this last week -- they called it a "Ta Dah!" list though. That seemed a little grand for me. I guess it's not a bad idea if some other people are doing it too. Either great minds think alike... or fools seldom differ.
Do you use a to-do list or something of the sort? Have you tried making a "Done" list?
Photo credit: Day 092/366 - To Do List via photopin (license)
0
Or he may have just used a period (in British English, a full-stop). Or maybe there wasn't any punctuation at all, just: "Done"
But no matter what, that man was efficient. And at the time, the opposite of me -- a chronic procrastinator.
I'm less of a procrastinator now, but I still am constantly looking for ways to motivate myself to just get things done sooner rather than later, a constant challenge for me. And probably part of the reason I've always been a to-do list maker. Far easier to make lists of things to do, than actually do them! But then they would make me depressed about how much I have to do. So instead, I've started keeping a "Done" list.
How much better is it to think about all that you've actually accomplished, instead of all you still have to do? Because the list of things one has to do -- or wants to do -- never really gets shorter, it's much more satisfying to see what you have accomplished during the day. You can also add those things that cropped up which you didn't know you'd have to do, and even better, you can also put fun or really rewarding things on the list that you did.
I really like sitting down at the end of the day and jotting down what got done (although to be fair, I have always been a diarist, so this may not be for everyone). I keep my lists in a nice notebook. It's kind of my version of a bullet journal -- literally -- bullet points about my day. I keep everything together too -- no separation between work and home life, as that would be too complicated.
This also helps me to practice gratitude. We're often so caught up with all we have to do, all there is we haven't done in life, and all that we think we need, or want. There are a million ways to be unhappy and there are a million things to feel inadequate about. But I think that there's only one way to be truly happy: to be grateful for what you have already -- and to feel like you have just enough.
For those who love the nitty gritty detail, I do still have to keep a sort of list of reminders of what does need to get done unfortunately. Just because I can't possibly remember everything I'm working on. I have an ongoing list of projects and reminders and each morning I look at that and jot down what in particularly needs to get done that day on a sticky note. Then I use that note to help me remember everything I did. (So I suppose I technically still have a to-do list. But it doesn't make me feel bad anymore because I know it will eventually become part of my "Done" list.)
I have been meaning to write this post for ages, and was annoyed with myself for not doing it sooner when I found a very similar article on Apartment Therapy recently -- and strangely written by someone called Taryn! And then on Gretchen Rubin's podcast it was also mentioned just this last week -- they called it a "Ta Dah!" list though. That seemed a little grand for me. I guess it's not a bad idea if some other people are doing it too. Either great minds think alike... or fools seldom differ.
Do you use a to-do list or something of the sort? Have you tried making a "Done" list?
Photo credit: Day 092/366 - To Do List via photopin (license)
