You've Been Doing Your To-Do Lists Wrong

If you're anything like me, you love making lists. When you have a list of what to do, you feel in control of your day, your time, your life. And of course the instant gratification of checking things off the list once they are done.

But lists can also be overwhelming sometimes. Life happens, and sometimes things come up that we can't plan for. When this happens, it is easy to be harsh with ourselves for not accomplishing the things we had planned to accomplish.

While there are some things that obviously take priority over others, it is important to learn to appreciate all productivity, and be gracious with ourselves if our day doesn't go quite as planned.

It is important to appreciate all forms of productivity, even if we aren't productive in the ways we have planned. There is one simple way to start doing this, especially for those who enjoy making lists.

What if you made your to-do list at the end of the day? Of course, it would be a different sort of to do list, and instead of writing what you still have to do, you write out the things you did accomplish during the day. Let's call it a "done list" to make this less confusing.

I'm not saying you should stop making your normal to do lists. Definitely still make those, as a guideline. But at the end of the day, try making out a done list where you write out all of the things you did accomplish during the day, in addition to or instead of the items on your other list.

When you do this, what you'll find is that by looking at this list it gives you a better perspective on your productivity. Instead of feeling disappointed in yourself because of the things you didn't accomplish, you will be able to see all of the things you did accomplish sitting out on the page, and you may see it's far more than you think. This will help you to appreciate all forms of productivity, by recognizing the importance of the things you did.

Here's an example. A couple of weeks ago I was determined to spend my day attending a class, going to a study meeting and working on an upcoming paper. But, as life goes, things came up that stopped me from doing those things.

I ended up missing my class because I had to do some additional driving I hadn't planned for. My study meeting got cancelled, which should have given me more time to work on my paper. However, I then got a message from a classmate asking for me to type up and share lecture notes with them because they were having a hard time understanding the material.

While it would have been easy for me to be harsh on myself for not getting done the things I initially wanted to do that day, I took the time to think about the things I did instead, and found that those things were still very beneficial and worthy of my attention. More importantly, they were still very productive tasks.

I chose to be gracious with myself, and you can too. It's okay if your day doesn't go as expected. Often, we have very good reasons for not doing all the things we plan, and it is important to recognize the importance of those things as well.

I'm not saying that you should shrug off deadlines or drop the most important tasks. But sometimes we expect too much of ourselves, and push ourselves harder than necessary. A paper that isn't due for another few days can wait a few more hours if another worthwhile task arises. And it's okay to recognize when things aren't as urgent as you thought, and allow other things to appear on your schedule.

It isn't easy to be gracious with yourself, but through the simple habit of keeping a list of the things you do in a day, even for a brief period, it will be easier to see how productive you really are, and appreciate all kinds of productivity in your daily life.