I have major issues around obligation. I feel stressed out and burdened when I feel that I have lots of pending obligations.
I feel especially bogged down by to-do lists. I accumulate to-do items any time I think “Wouldn’t it be cool if”, and even though I put them low down on the list, the length of the list quickly begins to stress me out.
The Could-Do List
Oh! I can separate my to-do list into a to-do list and a could-do list. Could-do items are things that it might be a good idea to do, but nothing bad will happen if I don’t. I might miss an opportunity for something good, but I won’t bring about anything bad by letting it sit.
To-do items are obligations. Could-do items are opportunities.
So, Kyeli and I edited each of our project pages to have two lists on it, a to-do list and a could-do list. We like it a lot. (:
This one simple change has vastly increased my happiness and my productivity. Now I can knock my to-do items off quickly, then move on to the fun pile of awesome things that I could do.
P.S. Oh, hey, look at this. I’m not the first one to come up with the idea of a “could-do” list, but they suggest simply renaming all your “to-do” items to “could-do”. I’m all for reducing obligation, but that sounds like sticking your fingers in your ears to me. (:
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I love my “can-do” list! Sometimes I’ll use it as rewards for doing stuff on my “to-do” list. Other times, I have days when I need to stick my fingers in my ears temporarily to actually do anything, and I will rename everything “can-do”, because on days when I’m more likely to actually do something if I invite myself to do it rather than demand that I do it, I need that! It’s a great idea.
love this idea! I am a huge list fan in general. i wish i could move some of my items to the ‘could-do’ list! At least today i am crossing off some of the items on my list :) my overwhelmed self is seeing a tiny light at the end of the tunnel… i am trying to ‘prioritize’ and even just do some of the easy things to motivate me because even though they say do the hard thing first, i need SOMETHING accomplished!
kate’s last blog post..Excuse me, did you see where I left my inspiration?
Franklin-Covey has an Unscheduled List. You put stuff on there to be scheduled in later (or not).
ToodleDo (which I use now), has unscheduled (no date). You could also put a “someday” status on it, or put a -1 priority (which will drop it out of the standard filters). Whatever makes sense to you.
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