30 Life Lessons for Inspiration and Creativity: Day 7

Lesson 7: Kill the big list

New year in July? I scanned the Target shelf for planners and the one that started with July got my attention quickly. I love fresh starts and this planner was just what I needed at that moment. On the left it had a lot of lines, just enough to be a decent grocery list for the month. And so I believed it. Believed the planner that the number of lines allocated for each day, must mean I would actually be able to squeeze in that many tasks into it! And I failed miserably. Every day there was more and more to add to the list that soon I was running over to the next week. Something was not working.

While I can’t quite pinpoint the source of this tip, but I do know that I’ve heard it a few times from Lara Casey. The advice she gives is this, “Kill the big list!” It is simply not going to happen. I read somewhere once that only God is able to accomplish all of his to do list and I like to remind myself of that.

What I learned to do instead is to put away the big list, sometimes toss it and instead write down one thing! One thing I need to accomplish that day, one thing for the week, and one project to work for in that one month! If I focus on one big thing a month, that’s twelve big mountains moved in a year. I love that advice and whenever I’m tempted to write a U.S. constitution for my to do list, I start looking for scissors.