01/11/2025
Yesterday I had a conversation with someone about the stress of getting everything done
Fitting everything into the day.
Completing all the tasks.
Ticking off the to-do list.
He spoke about how stressed he felt, how his body felt tense and the mind spiralled into catastrophic things that could happen if he didn't tick everything off.
But he, like many other people, had given himself an unrealistic to - do list.
I looked at it and said :
"You are never going to complete this in a day. Not because you can't focus or organise yourself, but because the list is too long. There aren't enough hours in the day, and everything takes longer you think it takes."
We all need to get things done, and the secret is in planning.
First, plan your meal times. You are going to eat anyway.
If you need to walk the dog or pick up kids, plan that next.
After that, it's time to fit in the original to - do list. Think of how long a task takes, and double the time. We need transition time - time switching from one task to another takes.
Because you now have an achievable plan, your mind can stop thinking about how much you need to do and stop worrying about whether you get everything done. Your mind is now free to focus on the task.
And in the evening, you can feel a sense of accomplishment from completing the tasks you planned to complete.
The sense of achievement will motivate you, and you will gather evidence that you can complete things.
Slowly and surely, everything gets done.
And you feel peaceful and in control.
