Living in the world today I’ve noticed that it is very easy to become overwhelmed. Everything can seem as if it is adding pressure to your already chaotic existence: family, friends, remembering the name of the co-worker sitting beside you (you know the one with the “hang in there” cat poster and the overbite). How does one juggle all of the demanding schedules, hectic lifestyle choices and keep up with the latest trends in socio-political concerns of third world nations? Lists!
I have found that a simple list can make me feel like a goddess! Athena, eat your heart out! Making the list will ensure several things:
i) that a record has been made of what needs to be done
ii) that I will not forget my goals
iii) that I can cross something off when I have finished it. (See what I did there? I made atiny list!)
I must make a confession though, I cheat at lists. Sometimes when no one is looking, I add things that I have already completed down on the list. I do that or I add things I will be doing regardless of time constraints. For example, if the list reads: do dishes, walk dog, write article for Women’s Post, I may (read: do) add items like: make tea, brush teeth and breathe. Yes, they are things I would (hopefully) do without reminders, but crossing something off of a list feels so good. Why would I deny myself that pleasure? In cases of something like writing down the word “breathe”, it serves as a good reminder to catch my breath amidst the rat race.
Focusing your goals by writing them down is a great way to check in with yourself as well as to what those goals really are, whether they be doing laundry or patching a rift in the space-time continuum.
All joking aside, life can become terribly overwhelming when we look at it as a whole. Lists help compartmentalize and help with the realization that it is our tiny victories that lead to the bigger ones, and that what may appear to be the most daunting of tasks can be overcome with smaller steps.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go watch the epic 2007 thriller The Bucket List starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson.
To Do:
Write Article about lists.
Make inappropriate jokes about lists.
Breathe.
