Why the Right Planning Matters (But Not Too Much).
This might be a long one, bear with me. But it’s a good’un, and I wanted to be super clear.
I’m a big planner, sometimes an over planner. But learning how a better to-do list keeps morning stress away has changed the way I start, and run, my day. And it’s not because I love it so much, that I can’t bear not to do it, umm… no, it’s because I need a solid focus for my day. Every day. Living a rigid life is not for me at all but when I wake up and am getting ready for the day, already knowing some of my must-do’s and how to do them just makes me less psycho.
Checklists vs. To-Do Lists: What’s the Difference?
For me, checklists keep life moving. To-do lists keep life running. My checklists are for things like: doctors’ appointments, dashing between one store or another, a pick up/drop off, or super quick hits that for the most part must happen to keep life from falling into crap. My To-do list enhances my life, work and fun in different ways and takes more prep and planning but the accomplishment, the payout is a different kind of adulting high. And neither needs to look pretty, or cause me to panic, they just need to work.
The Struggle: Mixing Lists and Creating Overwhelm
It took me a while not to keep coupling both lists. At one point, and I mean for years, I interchanged the two – like a check list and To-do list were just list-lists. Then when I’d only knock off 5 of the 20 for the day, it didn’t hit me that I’d overplanned, I took it as complete and utter failure that I didn’t get it all done. Because, I mean, I’m the one who created it, why couldn’t I complete it?
But what I didn’t want was 7 types of lists to now manage. Then actively work on 3 and forget the other 4. Or rapid-fire dismiss all alerts as they pop up on my phone, and go and binge-watch something, or doom scroll the apps to soothe my day’s defeat. Those lists turned into dismissed.
That way of planning was trapping. How can you feel behind before you’ve even started?
Enter the secret sauce that keeps my mornings from retreating back under the covers? A better To-do list.
The List Switch-Up: Cousins, Not Twins
I still have two types of lists: a Checklist (tasks, dailies, etc.) and a To-do list (work, fun, passion project related). Separate but equal. I love and need them both but they must live in separate realms. If I don’t get to all on my checklist, the sky doesn’t fall so hard, but missing my To-do list and I’m drowning because it means those tasks get added onto the next day and the next, and the next. That snowball will knock me out like a bowling ball.
Here’s my SET criteria for a To-do list that gets my stuff done:
- Specific – clear in detail, what exactly needs to be done.
- Have an Expected Outcome – what does ‘done’ actually look like?
- Timeboxed for completion – when and how long?
Until I wrote this post, I didn’t realize I’d created a fancy little acronym: SET.
SET in Practice: Going from ‘Huh’ to Specific
Before: Create content for my Tuesday post on making better lists to get stuff done.
This seems good, right? Pretty detailed. Wrong! Well, wrong for how I would see it. Once I woke from my slumber I’d be like, ‘Huh? Who wrote this?’
Better: Create draft content (for editing the following day) on making a better To-do list – separating a checklist and To-do list – explaining the reasons why they never worked before – how they are working now – provide examples of what’s working. Max time for draft 45mins-1 hour.
And relax, you don’t need to ramble on like me.
Seeing this in the morning… was a Bad Boys’ ‘Woosah’ moment. I can do this. No, I can more than do this. I didn’t need extra research as this was based on my own working experience. If research was needed, then that would need to be a separate task.
Timeboxing is a godsend and one of the best tools I’ve held close to me from my project management tool kit. Anything too lengthy and I’ll find excuses to keep kicking it down the road, especially if it’s lacking in excitement. Then I’m back to Uni days and crying over completing that course assignment due by 9AM the next morning. When I only started it a day ago, though I had ample time to do it. But my mates, and they know who they are, plus the ‘call of the club’ were too strong to resist. Yes, I studied, but I was also a weak, weak, party babe back then. I deserve all the judging.
What Do Your Lists Look Like?
- Create next week’s content…
- Workout …
- Finish Instagram content…
- Clean inbox…
- Reach out to …
- Organize my calendar…
- Figure out ‘This thing called life?’…
Sound familiar? It’s crazy broad, right? Create what content exactly? And why? How long will it be? Do you have all you need to get started? Who are you reaching out to, and why? Are they available, expecting your call, and ready with the answers you need? Is this ‘reach out’ one of three, or one and done? Do you plan to just capture the notes and edit later? How are you organizing your calendar? Is it too full, and if so, why? Is it simply for aesthetics? Are you removing old or redundant tasks, or adding ones from your Notes app that you forgot to do?
This is what I meant when I needed to be specific.
Some Examples with Less Rambling: Breaking It Down with SET
Grab My Free PDF To-Do List – Click Image Below
Team Paper? I Got You.
I also created this as a pre-printed To-do pad, beautifully packaged and ready to use, no printer, no problem. Choose from two clean, simple styles:
• Patterned version with a soft faded background ‘To-do’ design.
• Minimalist version with a plain white design.
And yep, there’s a matching checklist, too.
• Checklist with background pattern
• Plain white checklist
You’ll still find everything in the FREE RESOURCES section. Free to grab and easy to use.
Why Specificity Matters: My Brain ‘Has the Dumb’
Side note, and not a new discovery, but something happens to me overnight as I sleep. Like I slip into another galaxy or dimension because when I wake up, I forget a lot of things if they are not written down or captured through an alert.
My girls already know if they want me to do something for them and it’s not on my calendar (we have a family specific one) then it literally doesn’t exist to me. My brain ‘has the dumb’ and it can’t, or won’t, hold all the ‘things’. So, regardless of the sleep I’ve had the night before, waking up to a generic-arse list of sky-high-level stuff, and I’ll want to return to the land of nod, expeditiously.
Repeat: That way of planning was trapping. How can you feel behind before you’ve even started?
How to Tell If Your To-Do List Is Working
I hate to sound all work-y but is your To-do list actionable? Measurable? Doable? And while your lists might look different to mine, ask yourself this:
Is what’s on my To-do list something I can complete in between all of my checklist and daily life things, in a normal day?
Ones that don’t force you to always feel like you’re sacrificing the good and fun parts of your day. Sure, emergencies happen and we adapt, but every day can’t (should not) be an emergency. That’s not sustainable.
In Short: Smarter, Not Shorter
While my To-do list isn’t necessarily shorter, because it’s not, it is however, smarter. And a lot less evil. If my three or five To-do’s take up say 4 hours of my day, I know it’s 4 SET hours woven around my downtime. Or that last episode I need to finish. Or Happy Hour with Ma’ Girlies. All planned around my actual life. It’s not more or less important than the others.
The minute it all starts interrupting those joys, it takes on a stench. And I feel like I’m falling into that hyper-productive and hustle-culture lifestyle, which I despise, to be honest. One thing’s for sure: I have no plans to live this second chapter of my life in a constant state of exhaustion. Been there, done that, ‘aint doing it again. Plus, with anything you force, you’ll despise, and then you find reasons not to do it at all. Resentment doesn’t sneak in; it kicks down the door in your face and tries to fight you. I’m too grown to be street-fighting.
My ‘PM Wind Down’ Starting Point for the Next Day
I begin with my PM reflection sheet (yep, the free one I made—grab it here). I get to close out the day. Whether it was a good or bad one, the day is done-done, and I’m clearing out as much of the noise as I can. That sheet has a quick section that leads me into the next day. I can either use that wind down after my To-do list has been flushed out, or as an intro to it. It all depends on where I am, and I enjoy the rhythm (not pressure) of it.
But one thing I rarely do, is go to sleep not knowing what actions I need to take and wrap up. And do I miss the mark here and there, oh yes. Things can shift and flip. But I’m reacting to an unexpected change to my expected work, instead of looking at my expected work and wondering how the hell I’m going to tackle this lofty BS.
The Win: Ending the Day with a Clear To-Do List for Tomorrow
At the end of a long day, clearing my To-do list gives me that ‘I’m on track, or ahead’, addictive win. The goal is to still enjoy my life. And that means, work, and rest and play. And again, not feeling productive but accomplished. ‘Cos I’m not a bloody microwave. Are you?
Try it tonight. Look at your current lists, or start fresh. Make it clear instead of making it short; that can come later. And woohoo, you made it to the end. Big, big, A+ gold star for the attention span! Much appreciated.
Let me know how it feels to you to wake up with something you can actually meet. Drop in the comments.
