VaRiAtIoNs on the dreaded TO DO List….

I am sharing this NOT because I am an efficiency expert…or a time management aficionado.

In fact if you are really task oriented, I suggest you skip this and go back to what you were doing…unless you need a laugh and then you might hang around.

No….this is for those who are like me and can waste an ENTIRE day wringing my hands because I have SO MUCH to do and SO LITTLE time…

I am sharing my crisis management for getting things done when I am overwhelmed….rushed…prone to procrastinate because I want to crawl in a little ball and just cry….

So here are some ways I “trick” myself into accomplishing much when it is crucial; i.e….the Christmas Holidays are breathing down my neck!!

1. The Artistic To Do list: I picked this up from our daughter Sarah. Take a variety of colored markers and pretty up the list. She had a masterpiece going during an internship in college. It involved color coding by category and a pie chart thing, if I remember correctly.

Me, I just write things that need to be done in a kind of easy-breezy flow with arrows connecting activities.

2. The Backward To Do list: This one is especially good if you have a deadline at the end of the week. Start the top of the list with the final day and all that has to be in place by then.

For the rest of the list, work backward down the page through your week. Don’t ask me why but somehow using this kind of list, I actually end up working ahead.

But don’t get used to it. It doesn’t work if you use it all the time. Trust me. Save for a weekend with a special event like a party or company coming.

3. The Timed To Do list: Write down the five or so main tasks that truly need to get finished in a day. These should be fairly large tasks to tackle. Write them in a row. Set a timer for 20 minutes and alternate through the list. Work only 20 minutes on a task and then switch. Keep cycling through.

I once finished a craft project I had put off for over a year in one day using this method. And I got quite a bit accomplished around the house as well.

4. The Job Jar To Do list: Cut your list up in strips and put in a jar. Pull out one strip at a time, completing the chore before pulling out the next one

Ok…there you go…pathetic, right?

And throughout the day, seriously, if you get stumped and just don’t know what to do next. Pray. In fact, pray before you start and pray as you work. Ask God to show you what to do next, how to do it and every now and then sit down and read a little devotion or a few verses of Scripture.

God bless you, all you sweet little procrastinators and day dreamers!

Now get out there and do this thing!!!!!