Throughout my working life, I have always used task lists to help keep track of what projects need completing and the level of priority. My task lists can be short and others can reach the bottom of the page.
Most people will cross off the tasks as they complete them and follow up the remainder of the list either the next day, week or month. Importantly, they are usually happy and content with what they have achieved and not sweating the small stuff as we say.
For many years, my task lists whether large or small were a reminder to me that this list was written for a reason and if it was important enough to write it down then it was important enough to finish…today!
Such task lists would place so much pressure on myself to get the work completed to the point I would go into self sabotage mode. My anxiety and stress levels would rise for I would believe I wasn’t working hard or efficient enough. In actual fact, I was just setting unrealistic targets for myself.
So how did I change?
I started splitting large lists into several smaller lists and also breaking these lists down to make sure that such lists were achievable in the time that I had available in the day. Now whilst this worked for me, it wasn’t the answer or the solution that I really needed.
What I needed was not just to create smaller task lists that provided sufficient and reasonable time to complete them but I really needed to start being kind to myself. By this I mean that if my task list isnt completed within the timeframe that I set myself, then that was ok. Whatever the reason for not completing a single task, 2 or 3 tasks, then it was important for me to change my way of thinking and believe that what I have achieved in the time I had was ok and that there is still tomorrow, the next day, the next week, next month etc.
My mindset now is that if I only complete 30% of my task list but have given 100% effort, then I should celebrate and be content with this effort.
No matter what you have achieved today, instead of going home and saying “I feel like I have achieved nothing today”, change your narrative by reflecting on what you have achieved today and celebrate those wins. The fact is, nobody achieves nothing / zero in a day so focus on the good, be kind to yourself because tomorrow is another day.
Give yourself a break by being kind to yourself.
