My new and improved "to-do" list

To-Do Lists.  We all have them, and for many of us they invoke feelings of stress, overwhelm, and the thought of “how in the hell am I supposed to get all of this done in such a short amount of time?”

I used to feel like this quite frequently until Jonny recently saved my sanity and bought me this Plenty of Time Calendar as part of my graduation present.  This planner is changing my life and revolutionizing the way I do things….let me explain….

In the past, I would read through a typical bullet style "to-do" list on a regular piece of paper and it would have sounded something like this in my head as I read through it:

“Ah shit, I have to pay my credit card bill today….ugh…”  or “I need to schedule a Spanish class….I can’t keep putting it off” or “I don’t know if I really want to work out today….I might just skip it".  Notice as you read through these things that the overall trend of my energy is that of a negative “Have-To”. 

However, here is a snap shot from yesterday of my new to-do list that I am now using......

Now that I have this new amazing planner, I put each of my “to-dos” under positive qualities that I want to evoke in myself while participating in each task.  It is a new way of composing my day moment-by-moment.  Instead of organizing my day around what I have to do, I am instead invoking these qualities of how I want to relate to myself while completing each task, and looking at these “to-do” items in a positive light so I better understand why I am making them a priority in my life. 

So for example, when I paid my credit card bill yesterday, instead of feeling stressed that I had to pay it, I instead got to practice feelings of gratitude for paying off bills for all of the blessings I have already received in my life.  Doing this allowed me to look at my bill from a perspective of abundance rather than lack.  Or, when I worked out this morning, I knew that I was partaking in my workout because it helps me to evoke feelings of self-worth when I exercise.  Knowing this going into it, it inspired me to make sure that I got my exercise done instead of just skipping it because I was feeling lazy.  Or what about scheduling my Spanish class and then actually going to class?  This is a new amazing opportunity for me to practice total love and acceptance for myself while I make mistakes and trip over the grammar of subjuntivo y impartivo. And what about this huge list of personal emails that I need to respond to?  Well, instead of looking at it as this overwhelming list of people I have to get back to – I can instead practice immense amounts of gratitude for all of the amazing friends in my life!  And when I do that, the new story in my head sounds something like this “Holy smokes!  I’m so grateful that I have these friends from all over that are writing me emails and I get to write back to them and share my love and appreciation of our friendship with them!” 

By re-creating my life and the way that I relate to myself while getting things done, I find that I am way more productive throughout my day and enjoy my life so much more while accomplishing my tasks.  It has been such a simple, yet profound shift and one that I would encourage you to try out – and you don’t need this fancy book to try it.  I have created a new to-do list for you with these qualities at this link here.  Print it off, fill it out, invoke positivity and let me know how using it changes your day!  And if you really love this new technique as much as I do – go buy the book – it’s really amazing. 

Love,
Elsie