Did It List

In a society filled with too much to do and too little time, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. We have so many choices and too much information at our fingertips.

So what happens? Our to do lists just grow longer and longer and longer.

When I set out to start a new presentation, I usually start by thinking about how I am going to tell the story. I like to think about the opening to get the audience engaged, the content with points that support my main objective, and an ending that will bring it all together. After I look at the outline, I see how exciting it is and how amazing this masterpiece is going to be! I get really pumped up, eager to see it completed, and feel empowered to take on the world!

Then about 5 seconds later, I become overwhelmed with panic. OMG this is so much information and how in the hell am I going to get it all done. I have a deadline coming up and I am not even entirely sure if my key points will be supported by real facts. Why didn’t I start this sooner, what was I thinking.  I should just give up now, I am not going to be able to do any of this. UGH. OMG. WHAT DO I DOOOOO?

This time, though, I decided to try something different. I closed my eyes. I took a deep breath. I started repeating my mantra, ‘I am healthy, wealthy, happy, successful, and wise.” I thought about the things in life that I am grateful for. I am healthy. All my six senses are intact. I live in a country with endless opportunities, programs, and support for people like me. I am able to type this blog post because I have internet, how amazing is that? I shifted my perspective on my task at hand.

I told myself, Erin, just do one thing at a time. So, I started a list of things I needed to do. Then I shortened the list to the things I had to get down TODAY. I took the first one on the shortened list and focused on it.

In order to help us get a better perspective on life, let’s look at the most common things we think about when we get overwhelmed.

• There’s Not Enough Time
  • Here is the deal. Time is an illusion. We tell ourselves things like “I don’t have time to cook dinner so I will just order something” yet somehow we find time to watch our favorite Netflix shows. Or we say “I don’t have time to clean my apartment” and then we spend 45 minutes looking for that piece of paper that was buried underneath a pile of crap. So we waste even more time and money and calories eating out. More stress and more time looking for things in a frenzy. Ultimately, it ends up taking us EVEN MORE TIME.
  • The irony is that when we are forced to do something, suddenly there is enough time. Once our WHY and our HAVE TO is strong enough, time magically shows up. Have you ever noticed how if you give yourself a week to do something, it takes you a week? If you give yourself 6 months, it takes you six months?
    

Once your WHY is important enough, you find the time. The phone turns off, the email and Facebook and Instagram stops getting checked. When the task becomes a have to, the time is there.

• Too Much to Do
  • Have you ever noticed that when you ask someone how they are doing, their first response is usually, “Good. Just really busy, but good.” Busy is our new “I’m great, thanks for asking.” We love to go on and on and on about how busy we are! It is like a badge of honor for us.
  • The thing is that there is always more to do. So we have to change our mindsets and focus on the things that we like about what we have to do. We have to decide that we are going to live an awesome, relaxed life full of interesting projects.

Put together Your To Do List. Look at it and think what are the things that have to happen NOW? What can wait? Then concentrate on the things that have to happen now. Shorten your list to the things that have to get done now.The shorter the list you are working with, the better you’ll feel.

Then turn off your phone. Turn off your email. Just do the task that has to get done NOW.

At the end of each day, make your ‘DID IT LIST’  of all the things you accomplished. What happens is that most of us make our to-do lists and then think about all the things that we didn’t get done. Spending time acknowledging the things we DID do will help us feel more accomplished for the next day.

So tell me in the comments below, how are you going to write your DID IT list today? And the next and the next and the next?