The Curse Of The Female Population?
The Curse Of The Female Population?I had dinner with my sister-in-law the other night. We were chatting about my blog and she said, ‘you need to write about the curse of the female population.’ Thinking she hadn’t understood my blog in the slightest, I questioned what she was talking about. Some illness, perhaps? She smiled and uttered the words, ‘the TO-DO LIST.’
I got to thinking. As a woman, I like to be organised. I pride myself on being able to juggle numerous things in one go. In my corporate life, this is hugely useful as I often work as a Project Manager. But I have to question how useful this skill is in my personal life and whether the writing of a list(s) is that beneficial.
How much additional pressure are we putting on ourselves with our endless writing of to-do lists? Is the very thing that we are using to manage and control our lives with making us overly stressed?
The Satisfaction Of Ticking Everything Off?
At work, it feels immensely satisfying to complete all the action items that are on your to-do list. Job done. Project delivered successfully.
At home though, the to-do list seems to be ongoing; no end in sight as such. My friend Sarah said to me, ‘I never get the satisfaction of ticking everything off my to-do list. I only ever seem to get half of it done and I’m left in a state of perpetual underachievement.’
Parenthood And The To-Do List Gets Longer
And with the arrival of children, the to-do list seems to get progressively longer and more complex. We taxi our children around. We take them to no end of activities after school and during the weekend. Of course, we want to support and nurture them.
However, there are huge expectations on us today and I think this can often feed into our desire to have all the should-do’s and must-do’s ticked off our lists.
Mind and Body
Today, there is more awareness into the effects that stress can have on our well-being. As I’ve got older, I am just as concerned about my mind as I am my body; the two go hand-in-hand for me.
Often our lives are chaotic and when our lives are chaotic, our minds can be too. But often without realising it, we can feed into this.
I have to say that I don’t think the writing of endless to-do lists helps with the calmness of our minds; quite the opposite in fact. We put ourselves under immense pressure with our pursuit to tick everything off.
I have items on my to-do list that have been on there for weeks. Surely, if it was so important in the smooth running of my life, or my children’s lives, it would have been done by now?
Are we continually chasing our tails in, as my friend says, a state of perpetual underachievement?
Is It Time To Rethink Our To-Do Lists?
I challenge you to re-think how you use your to-do list. Look at all the should-do’s and must-do’s and question whether they are needed. Are they adding value to your life or just making you more stressed? Take off the items that are NOT needed – be honest with yourself.
Maybe limit your list to only 5 items a week and let the rest slide…..
Maybe re-think your list completely and have just a few words on it. STOP. RELAX. RE-BOOT.
Let me know if to-do lists are taking over your life. Email me at lou@womanready.com.
