Make to do list work for you
Beth Creedon
![Beth Creedon]()
Beth Creedon
Innovative tools to free your mind I 1:1 Coaching from ￡1750/6 months I Monthly Mastermind ￡650/year I Create Lasting Change 6 week course ￡333
I love emptying my mind?on to?a piece of paper and identifying what’s important to me and what isn’t whilst creating a to do list. But if I get caught in the cycle of writing a huge list everyday, it very quickly feels like a slog, which doesn’t reach a satisfying conclusion.
How do your to do lists feel?
How long does that feeling of satisfaction of ticking things off last for?
Are we kidding ourselves that one day we'll get to the end of our list...?
How would you like to enjoy your list?
Begin with how you want to feel at the end of the day, give yourself 30 seconds just to tune in to what you want the general feeling to be for the day you have ahead of you. It really is up to you to choose. Yes, you can choose. Even if you don't 'want' to do some of the tasks, then you can choose not having/living with the consequences of 'not' doing it instead and then suffer less. I now 'choose' what I do, even the hard stuff.
Write a list of tasks and imagine that it’ll feel great doing those things, not just ticking them off.
The key to this level of satisfaction, and not go into overwhelm is to be discerning about what goes on the list in the first place.
Have a dumping ground for all your thoughts, somewhere else, and then choose carefully what you write on your daily task list. Kidding yourself of what you'll get done, in a day, isn't?serving anyone and is just setting you up for daily dissatisfaction- and even a life of dissatisfaction- I cannot stress this enough.
After doing this for a few days you'll quickly see just how long tasks actually take and realise that you have been underestimating the time that they take. When you see how long things actually take, you can set your to-do list more accurately.
How long have you felt upset about all you have to do?
Months...years?
It really is possible to feel a sense of satisfaction every day- even when you don't complete your list. Here's how.
Remember you can't control the outcome of most of what you do!
I have run two of my own businesses since 2007. We?sold one in 2011 and I have run my coaching business since 2009. I know that I cannot control how much money I make or how many clients I have. I do know that I can serve people the best I can and develop my own practice as best I can, and invite people to work with me. I can make it more likely, but I don't have control over lots of my business. I have got OK?with that, because I set possible outcomes, not rigid ones.
When you are setting your own goals-make them inspiring and exciting for you, and?make sure you set?yourself actions for yourself that feel possible-ie.
-I set myself the possibility of signing three new clients in September, and I take actions to make that more likely.
Rather than...
-I must sign three clients in September?(and then feeling tight and a bit anxious about it).
(This process enabled me to build own veg business and sell it in 2011 and still works today with my coaching practice.)
With this process I hit my targets about 80% of time and I do it from a space of creativity and calm -most of the time ;-)
?
How would you rather work?
Here's the next important part of the puzzle.
Instead of simply writing a ‘to do’ list, and ticking things off, I create a?‘ta da’ list.
We then spend more time celebrating what you have already done.
‘Ta daaaaa’!
Like, look what I did.
Celebrate and appreciate your actions.
Acknowledging your small successes allows your acknowledgment muscle to be exercised! Without the regular exercise, it won’t have the strength to allow you to feel great when those bigger successes come along, you’ll simply move the goal posts and make a new to do list!
TRY A ‘TA DA’ LIST TODAY.
LIKE A MAGICAL REVEAL… TA DA!!!??
To recap
-Have a dumping ground for all the tasks you want to do
-Tune into how you want to feel during that day and at the end of the day, then choose what you want to do.
-Write a timely list of actions
-In the evening write your ta- da?list next to your to do list of things that you've done, include things that have taken time, such as walking the dog, making a meal, then you can see what takes time in your day and what you 'choose' to do.
-Take the time to acknowledge yourself for what you have done. We are all looking for that holy grail of satisfaction. Without practicing acknowledgment, you really will never get there. Acknowledgment leads to an increased sense of satisfaction.