How to Find Bliss While Tackling the To-Do List

(Part 1 of a 2 part series)

Here is my basic premise: There are always things to get done. We orient our lives around a perpetual to-do list. Everything from paying the bills, feeding the kids, building our business, mowing the lawn, getting exercise, socializing, defining our purpose, attending our relationships, and everything in between. Our To-Do lists can provide structure and order, or they can provide us with a never ending sense of guilt about what we are not doing and accomplishing. We create lists to stay on track, to not forget, to stay connected to our vision, and to define priorities.

But what happens when our lists become a mile long and we really aren’t getting anything on them done?What is the message here? Why are we able to do some things, and not others? Are the items on it really that important? Are they not in alignment with our values so we ignore them , hoping they will go away? Is there no juice, passion, or motivation in the tasks? Are they there out of some sense of obligation, should, or have to?? Or is there some other element at play here?

A bit ago I did some of my own personal exploration around my pattern of doing things and attention to my own To-Do list. Working with the above basic premise, my inquiry led me to a methodology that I have adopted and is working really well for me. As you read I ask you to consider these ideas for yourself, to give them a try, and then to get back to me with some feedback. How did it work for you? What am I missing? What did you notice about yourself as you integrated these ideas and changed your relationship with your To-Do  list? My hope is to develop this into a workable program that will support individuals and groups move into a more enjoyable experience with the tasks of their lives, to find a way to make it a fun game worth playing, and from that place to get dynamic results where everything gets done with lots of time left over for the really important things in their lives.

The secondary premise, after there is always things to get done, is that all of these things require various degrees of our cognitive, creative, intellectual, physical, mental, emotional, and even spiritual, skills and attention. For instance, mowing the lawn requires our physical ability, but not so much of our creative or mental skill. Building our business might engage our creative and emotional skills, as well as our intellect, with each element being required in various degrees depending on the task at hand. When we recognize this and allow ourselves to do the tasks that best feed the skill center we seem to be in at the moment, I am discovering, we can get more done, and our sense of passion and joy increases as well.

Here are the problems-being scattered, getting distracted easily, lack of focus, lack of completion, being stuck or bogged down, no energy, brain fog-any of these sounding familiar? Actually, these are not problems! They are signs that you are not utilizing the appropriate skill set!! It’s an opportunity to check in with yourself and see what you need. Working on a creative project and feeling stuck? Maybe it is time to stop, get up and go get your exercise for the day. Allow the creative energy to be moved, so that it can come forth. Guaranteed, when you go back to your project, you will have new ideas and the creativity will be flowing again.And, you will have gotten your exercise.

Because there are so many things to do, if we stop trying to force ourselves to get one thing done when it’s not working, and instead let it go and attend to something else that is more in alignment with what our body, soul, and spirit is calling for in that moment, eventually, we will get everything done. We work in a more cyclic, creative flow, rather than a dogmatic, linear way. Sounds way more fun and bliss inducing to me.

Stay tuned for more ideas on my new Getting Things Done methodology, including tips on how to integrate these ideas, and the benefits of making the switch. In the meantime, try this idea on for size, and tell me what you think.

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