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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

The Not Done List









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^Sandra^ on Flickr
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I had a really wonderful, productive day yesterday. I got the kids fed and clothed and to school on time. While they were in school, I:

  • did all the dishes

  • washed and dried a load of laundry

  • got some good writing work done

  • meditated

  • ate a healthy lunch

  • went through one box of old crap from my closet


After they got home I fed them snacks and a healthy dinner and got them off to bed on time. Then my husband and I watched Lost on DVD (we're all caught up and ready for the new season!) and went to bed (too late).

Yep, all of that sounds great, until I consider that yesterday I did NOT:

  • bathe the kids

  • comb my daughter's tangly hair

  • have anyone do any homework (homework was last done by my daughter before Thanksgiving in November and by my son, um, so far just one night in September)

  • cook a meal (I microwaved pre-made foods I purchased. I cook with about the same frequency that I blow dry my hair, and I only do that for weddings.)

  • fold or put away the laundry

  • clean the cat's litter box (it's been, ahem, a while)

  • answer the 233 messages in my inbox


I have proven time and again that I can only achieve about half of the two lists combined in one day, and that's only when I am at my absolute peak of performance, like an Olympic athlete breaking a world record. Unfortunately, what I too often expect myself to do is break world records every day, and more. I consistently want to finish both damn lists each and every day. It doesn't feel like my expectations for myself are unreasonable or the tasks are so unmanageable that completing them all regularly is a superhuman feat, and yet they are.

Now it seems I have another thing to add to the not done list. I did not:

  • toss out the mental weight of the Not Done list.


Damn!
Posted by at 3:01 PM
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11 comments:

  1. My not done list often looks eerily similar to yours. I made my boys shower this morning for the first time since the weekend. And we won't talk about the cat litter....
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  2. You are certainly not alone in this endeavor ;) I do believe my 'not done' list would give yours a run for it's money ;)
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  3. Hey sweetums. I am still torn when it comes to lists. If I do make them, I feel guilty that I didn't finish them. If I don't make them, I forget what the things were that I needed to finish.

    Then again, life has a tendency to explode in my face, and a whole week full of "have to do" just blew up in my face today.:)
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  4. not having accomplished everything on the 'to do' list means that there still things there that will make you feel good when you can cross them off... don't you sometimes add things just so that you can cross them off?
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  5. But did you add to the list all the unanticipated tasks/activities/interruptions that inevitably occur? I'm a To-Do list maker... and sometimes I have to stop and recognize that the other half of my list is made up of items I didn't anticipate: phone calls received, time spent staring into a room and thinking "what did I come in here for?", time looking for misplaced items...

    P.S. I'm with you on the hairdrying... I do it only when it's too cold to go out with wet hair.
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  6. I don't do lists. I used to but gave it up for Al-Anon! I get done what I can and figure that the rest can wait for tomorrow.
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  7. Addie, I've been known to hear my hair clinking together when it freezes! But that was mostly in my younger days, now I usually shower at night to avoid going out with wet hair. :)
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  8. This is why i don't have lists. I hate the disappointment of not finishing anything. My list would depress me. And then on top of it, it doesn't leave room for those things that happen spur of the moment. Granted I have the important ones done, like work and my extra stuff that I have paid for. But other than that.... this is why lists are not great for me.
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  9. I am an obsessive list-maker. Without my lists I'd be tragically stupid and unforgivably behind at life.

    It's especially embarrassing when I find that I've written out a list of the things I need to make lists for ...
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  10. It's all about perspective, isn't it? Focus on your done list, that's what matters.
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  11. I agree with Cate, I focus on crossing things off the list and feeling satisfied the more I cross off. There is always "to do's", its the way we manage them that is most important.



    Narconon Vistabay
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