The “Done” List

Everyone can use a little encouragement from time to time. And a little accountability.

For the past few months, I’ve been feeling a little overwhelmed. I’ve struggled with some of my deadlines (which I never have in the past). I’ve had a hard time saying no.

Occasionally I think about all the “need to-dos” and “want to-dos” and “should dos” and wonder how the list got so big.

So, last week, instead of focusing just on my to-do list, I also did something I haven’t tried before. I made a “done” list.

Anything I did during that day — no matter how big or small — I added to the done list. At first, I thought I was being kind of silly … and maybe wasting time. But by the end of the day, I was a big fan of the done list.

Three really good things happened because of the done list.

First, by the end of the day, I had a record of everything I’d done.

Often, when I reach the end of the day, I wonder how much I really accomplished. (Sometimes — usually — it doesn’t feel like as much as I’d like.) With my done list in hand, I was able to review everything I’d achieved during the day.

And honestly, it was not insignificant. I could see that even though I hadn’t crossed a couple of bigger things off my to-do list, I’d made good progress and that they would be getting the coveted line through them soon.

That was a nice feeling.

The second thing I noticed is that when I was tempted to waste some time — surfing Facebook or playing WordTwist — I didn’t. Because I didn’t want to add it to the done list.

Instead, I did something else I’d feel good about seeing on my list at the end of the day. It wasn’t always work-related. At one point, when Facebook was calling my name, I opted to play the piano for 15 minutes instead. While I wouldn’t have liked seeing “Facebook — 15 minutes” on my done list, I did like seeing “Played the piano.”

And the third thing I noticed was that my momentum built throughout the day. Toward the end of the day when I’m usually looking at my to-do list and thinking, “What’s the point … I’ll just start fresh tomorrow,” I was thinking, “How much more can I add to my done list before I knock off at five?”

What a difference!

Now, I probably won’t use a done list every day. But if I’m feeling overwhelmed, discouraged, or unfocused, the done list is my new go-to tool.

I hope you’ll give it a try to see if it works as well for you!

by Heather Robson, blog writer for Wealthy web writer