Journal: To-Do List Reality Check

Before I even clicked publish on yesterday’s journal post, I knew there was no way I would be able to do everything on my to-do list. Even if I’d gotten up on time and made my to-do list right away, there was no way I could have finished all 19 tasks. Even if I’d removed the “extra” to-dos, 14 would have still been way too many.

Here is what my to-do list looked like at the end of the day yesterday:

  1. Take all meds – morning, breakfast, dinner, bedtime (daily health task) Bad me!
  2. Drink all fluids – carrot juice, water, broth, tea (daily health task) Double bad me!
  3. Stretch (daily health task)
  4. Walk Joxer with hubby – afternoon (daily health task)
  5. Make beds & open blinds (daily health task)
  6. Eat energy snacks – morning & afternoon (daily health task)
  7. Shower & go to massage therapy appointment (daily health task & life to-do)
  8. Find out if surgeon accepts my insurance (life to-do)
  9. Write Fibropreneur post (biz to-do)
  10. Complete half the remaining assignments/reading for Music Theory (school to-do) Completed 25%.
  11. Do group assignment for Intro to Communication (school to-do)
  12. Make/shoot/edit/list new donut jewelry in store for National Donut Day if time, else renew oldest item (biz to-do) Started making donut jewelry, then renewed oldest.
  13. Market new jewelry or renewed item (biz to-do)
  14. Clean washer and dryer (life to-do)
  15. Update calendar board for June (extra biz to-do)
  16. Put away laundry and wash comforters (extra life to-do) Hubby did this one.
  17. Pick up for 15 mins (extra life to-do)
  18. Make/prep/mail cards (extra life to-do)
  19. Listen to Run a Better, Faster, Leaner Business by John J Murphy on CreativeLive while working (extra biz to-do)

I completed 8 to-dos, partially completed 1, and asked for help with another. I also didn’t get all of my daily health tasks done, bad me.

I know better. I know that on a really good day I can complete 5-10 to-dos max depending on the time involved for each one, and this list included several time-heavy tasks.

The ongoing problem and source of my frustration is that I never have just 5-10 critical to-dos. This is the one problem I have no idea how to solve, outside of just not doing some things. That really isn’t an option, though, because they are all critical, must-do tasks. Even when I’m as tough as possible in determining what absolutely must get done, I still have more on my list than I can accomplish.

It seems like all I can do is to keep evaluating my priorities, keep trying new approaches, keep taking care of myself, keep doing my best, and keep working on letting it be okay when not everything gets done.

–Amy 🙂

Is this a frustration in your life too? What do you do when you know there are more critical items on your list than you can get done? Please leave a comment below or send me an email.

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