Do you prioritize your to-do list? Why it’s important that you start doing just that!
Some of you who are my faithful followers may have noticed that there have been times over the past two years when I was absent from the blog. No witty articles or yummy recipe posts. No social media sharing or anything else. So why did that happen? Well, I got divorced and started working full-time. I also became active in one of the local theaters, not only as a performer but as a music director as well!
So there has been a lot more going on for me than what I normally balance each week. Because of that, I had to make a decision to prioritize what was most important to me and decide what could wait.
Being overloaded
I know for me, oftentimes I have been prone to overloading my plate with too many obligations. But that always leaves me overwhelmed and completely stressed out. When this happens, I always end up sick and out of commission completely! This year, I decided to do things differently. I didn’t want to feel stressed out and miserable! So I looked at my list of tasks and obligations and had to make a decision about which things needed my attention and which could wait.
The result? A much less stressed, and much happier me! There were days that the dishes or laundry didn’t get done because I really had to focus on other things. But because I gave myself permission, it was okay to have a messy kitchen for a day! And although I had a couple of days where I felt as if I was starting to come down with a little bug because I took the pressure off of myself to get everything done, that feeling went away quickly and I never got any of the full-blown viruses that were hitting seemingly everyone across the US.
Do you ever overbook, over-schedule or overload yourself?
Here’s how you can prioritize your to-do list
Make a list of all of your tasks so you know what you have to deal with.
Begin categorizing your tasks and responsibilities. There will be three categories…..
Category #1: Indicate on your list which tasks must be completed or you will face negative consequences. Those are the tasks that must be completed first.
Category #2: Indicate on your list which tasks will not cause negative consequences if not completed today.
Category #3: Indicate on your list which tasks can be delegated to someone else! You do NOT have to do it all by yourself.
There is a fourth category….the tasks that you don’t really have to do at all (and we all have some of those things on our to-do list from time to time). Cross those suckers out and get rid of them!
Make sure you take care of the things in category #1 but give yourself permission to not sweat it if you don’t get to category #2 for a while. Your health and sense of well-being are far more important than stressing over trying to complete things that really can wait a while! So take the pressure off of yourself and you will be amazed at how much better you feel!
And PS….because I’m so passionate about writing here and sharing all kinds of great things that I’m discovering with you, I’m really happy that my blog is back on the top of my list! I’m very happy to be back!!
