We all have one. Some of us don't admit it, but it's there just the same.
Most of us have one very large list that's actually made up of several smaller categories. I have one of those. My list has categories like these:
Must do: Things I can't put off any longer. These things aren't technically on the list because I have to do them, but it feels better to cross off something (even if it is only mentally) and so I include those. In reality, these are the things that I have to do in order to start on the things I really have on my "to do" list.
Need to do: Things I otherwise call "chores." This is stuff that I'm supposed to do in the course of a day to make me feel like a good housewife and mother. These are things that can be put off (and usually are) until the job becomes so big it gets moved up to the Must Do category.
Should do: Things that are going to make life more pleasant, but if I don't get to them, everything will still be OK...until the job gets moved up a category!
Want to do: Things that I should really call Free Time. Sadly, this is the list that often gets put before Need To Do, which might be why we often find our clothes out of the laundry basket instead of the drawers!
And then, despite our large lists we deal with unexpected disruptions and the sad reality that we often get caught up in the To Do lists of people around us. That just muddles the whole process.
So what's my "To Do" list for today? Though not complete, nor listed by priority, I am hoping to do these things today:
1. Get the Ward Directory ready to print! (I am meeting the librarian at the church tomorrow night, so this is on my MUST DO list!)
2. Fold laundry. This is etched permanently onto my list. :(
3. Sew pants for Leah. They've been cut out for a couple of months now, but Christmas over-rode the importance.
4. Wash fabric for Christmas PJ's. (Check. It's in the washer -13.5 yards- already.) Yep! I am already planning for Christmas next year! Don't be too impressed; I did this last year, too. The fabric sat on my sewing table for 11 months.
And if I can get that done, I'll find some fun stuff to do later today. (Like blogging. Didn't I tell you this category often got in the way of the more important stuff?)
You're not the only one with stagnant to-do lists. I got so tired of rewriting my not-as-urgent to-do list week after week that I ripped off the corner of the schedule it was written on and put a piece of tape on the back. Now I just move it from week to week. It has moved intact with nary a mark-off for almost a month now. Sad!
ReplyDeleteMine's just taped to the wall, and it gets added to. I think the only things that I've crossed off recently are because I just came to peace with the fact that I was never going to do them. . .how sad is that?
ReplyDelete