Overwhelmed by your own to-do list?
A lot of us have at least one to-do list to help keeps us organized. But does it really help us to become more organized? Does it help us to be more efficient? Or does it just give us a false feeling of being in control when in reality, things are going out of hand?
To be honest, I feel that having a to-do list does help us to be more organized as we know what are the important things to do, and also as a reminder not to miss out on those important stuff. But I also feel that it does not really make one more efficient and it certainly does not allow one to enjoy life as it is. Why am I saying that? Based on my personal experience, people tend to have too many things in their to-do list. There are so many things to do that at one stage or another, we feel overwhelmed by the very thing that is supposed to make us “in control”.
Just imagine that the weekend is coming and you have the current list of to-do items in your calendar:
- meet the property agent
- get a book from the local bookstore
- bring your bf/gf/family to the nearby shopping complex
- write 2 blog posts
- redesign the theme
- do some self-study on that technology
- catch up with some ex-colleagues
If you think this is not overwhelming enough, you have my respect. 
Actually the above is sort of like my default to-do list for the weekend and I am pretty sure I’m not alone. A lot of people I know really try to throw a lot of things into their already over-cluttered to-do list especially during weekends. In the end, we become overwhelmed and most likely could not accomplish most of the items in the list. What happens after that? We become demotivated and exhausted for the weekdays. Perhaps this is due to our nature – human beings love to accomplish things and having too many incomplete things does make one feels a bit ‘useless’.
What should we do then? To-do list helps us to be organized and it does help us to keep things done….but now you’re telling us that having one actually makes us feel exhausted and even demotivated?
Well, it’s not the end of the world really. The solution is pretty simple – keep your to-do list but minimize the number of deadlines. Having a lot of items is fine but don’t assign deadlines for all of them. Also, try to keep to 2 or 3 to-do items in a day. And if (a big IF) possible, free up 1 day in a week without any to-do list, preferably a Saturday or Sunday. Spend the day with your loved ones. Go out and enjoy life.
I believe by doing those simple steps, the tendency of you feeling overwhelmed by your to-do list will be lower and you still get to be “in control” most of the time. If you still feel overwhelmed, then start removing more to-do items until you feel you are comfortable. And if having no to-do list is what it takes to make you feel less overwhelmed, so be it (people who are in favor of the minimalist lifestyle believe that having a to-do list brings more harm than good).
I am one of those people who write their TO DO list every morning, LOL. And I always make it a point to list only those things that I can achieve (so that I don’t overwhelm myself), for example today, I have these in my list:
- buy bus tickets to Melaka for gf’s wedding
- bank in a cheque at the RHB bank
- buy 3 bags of pellets for the terrapins
- pick up (somebody’s) laptop for formatting
- submit a job Application Form
Only when I’m done with these tasks, I get on with stuff that I have put off for tomorrow, but that can be done today
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pelf
4 Nov 09 at 10:15 am
wah . your to do list – write 2 blog post a day ?
i cannot like that one , i need inspiration .
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gapnap
4 Nov 09 at 5:52 pm
@pelf
Every morning? Hmm, i normally just add/remove to my google task whenever i see fit or whenever something crosses my mind. hahaa. But i tend to overwhelm myself :T
so guess you are doing a lot better than i am.
@gapnap
Mmmm nolar, weekend to do list. I only have 3 posts a week mah. I also need inspiration, so i normally write down the title and points inside the blog and save as draft.
Alvin Lim
4 Nov 09 at 6:07 pm
trust me.I DO think that the list is overwhelming indeed! I know how you feel dude.And don’t worry,so long as your discipline, and determined to finish ‘em,you’ll be fine.
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Clive Einstein
5 Nov 09 at 5:41 am
@Clive Einstein
lol, actually the list of to-do is meant for the weekend. meaning i have 2 days for it. haha. not THAT bad. and yeah, i need to be disciplined enough to complete those critical ones.
Alvin Lim
5 Nov 09 at 8:23 am
I’m a strange guy then coz the only time to-do lists make sense is when I’m at the supermarket. That’s what happens when you on fruit salad mostly. For other activities, to-do lists work better if they’re in my head than on paper. Lists give me a suffocating feeling. They distract me coz the really important things I have to do depends on what I’m doing at that moment, not what’s on a list I wrote last night. I stopped using the to-do list function on my phone years ago.
Try this. One weekend invite your parents to go out with you and tell them get ready coz you have to do 10 things today, waving your list in front of them. Watch them moan and groan. The next week, don’t tell them you have the same 10 things to do but you bring them around anyway when you do it. Now watch them not make a peep.
I tell ya, to-do lists are evil. Evil!!! Hahaha
Damien Tan
5 Nov 09 at 10:02 am
@Alvin . Me and you different styles lah i think . I did some drafts but after a few days , i forgot about my draft or get too lazy to finish it .
Normally , once i am inspired , from a single title or phrase i blog out everything till it is complete . But i seldom get that “moment” , if you know what i mean .
@Damien . You go to a SUPERMARKET to buy vegetables ? HAHAHAH…thats not macho at all :p
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gapnap
5 Nov 09 at 2:17 pm
@Damien Tan
I think my to do list is more like a reminder to me, since I can be pretty forgetful at times. 
Maybe i shld eat more fruits like u, and i’ll become better in remembering things. hohoho.
I actually stopped using the to do list in my phone too, coz it’s too crappy
One of my weekends = reserved for family. I’ll jz postpone every to do items to the other day.
@gapnap
hmmm actually depends lo. if u notice, my blog posts r pretty regular – mon, wed, fri. so mst always ensure i have enuf posts for these 3 days. not sure if that routine is actually adding extra burdens to me =_=”"
Eh, maybe Damien goes to the supermarket and orders a pretty girl to take this, take that ….just like a slave driver. Like that macho or not?
Alvin Lim
5 Nov 09 at 7:15 pm