I’m a to do list junkie. Ask anyone that knows me. At any given point in the year I’ve got 3 different lists of goals – short-term, mid-term and long-term. I’ve got a to do list at work, a to do list at home, I even help people make their own lists and teach them how to keep track of them!
The other day, as I was using my lists to create my schedule for the week, it occurred to me that I wasn’t scheduling any time for things that were, well… fun.
I have a tendency to do this. To use the satisfaction of a job well done and the checking off of daily tasks as the stuff that sustains me while I tell myself there will be time for fun when this list of things is complete. I’m sure you can see the problem already? For a person like me, that list of things to do will never be complete. I will always find more to add to it!
So, I’ve been making a point to add something to my list for myself each week. Today it was going for a walk with my dog – a walk that I’ve been promising him we’d go on for much too long to admit. It’s funny. Watching him wade through an ice cold stream, and turn around with his big doggy smile while he waited for me to catch up made me feel much more satisfied than any neat, little check mark would.
And it’s taught me a lesson: it’s important to include things in our daily tasks that are just for ourselves. Things that nurture and sustain our sense of peace and happiness, otherwise, all those check marks will be for naught. Maybe it’s savoring a cup of fresh tea during a moment of silence when the kids are napping, maybe it’s scheduling a much needed mani/pedi. Whatever it is, you’ll thank yourself and so will your lists. You’ll find yourself much more motivated to complete more of the tasks on your list if you feel the benefits of at least one of them instantly.
Happiness? Check.
