To be honest I have started making to do lists for my day only because I sometimes get carried away with one thing like chatting to my friend or cousin for hours on the phone or spending a great deal of time reading interesting blogs and I forget about other important things that I need to do like housework or taking a library book back. I also write shopping lists but get carried away in the shop.

I love Jennifer’s point that our lives would change if our “to do” lists included things that really mattered to us, things related to our family and friends.

Thanks.

I think your approach in using a list but not letting it take over your life seems like a sound idea to me.

Personally, my work as a teacher is fairly straightforward, so I can typically get away with doing one on a weekly basis rather than a daily basis.

I find that having a list actually frees me up to some extent. Once I have written down what I have to do, I am freed from the burden of constantly having to remember everything. I know that I can simply check back to my list as I need to.

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@ Jenna- We all need a break! Stacey certaintly deserves it!

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I see your point, and I agree that life is about more than just schedules, a whole lot more.

That said, I feel compelled to defend the use of schedules to some degree. Schedules, and to do lists, if used effectively, can help to focus upon those things which are most important to you.

I feel that problems can occur during the making of schedules when activities with a significant qualitative value, such as quality time spent with family and friends, are often seen as ‘unimportant’ and therefore given insufficient priority on many to do lists. Actually, these things are important, and should be given their rightful place as a reasonably high priority.

If used effectively, I feel that to-do lists can help to provide us with focus and help us spend more time on things which are more important. They also serve another useful function in that they give us tangible evidence that we are doing worthwhile things with our lives – it is nice to look at all of the things crossed off at the end of a week and see how much one has accomplished.

That said, I do take your point, and to-do lists should be our aid, not our master.

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Each of us needs to remember this every day as the world tries to convince us that we cannot live without the meaningless dribble we are so connected with.

Namaste

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@ Daphne- I am glad you did not skip this one.
That reader gets pretty full does it not? Stacey wrote a great post about this. We only have so much time in life, lets all spend it wisely.

Jay´s last blog post..Under the Microscope- My Experiance with a Life Coach

I knew you were onto something from the first paragraph, about not living life like a to-do list, or in my case a to-read list. Everytime I check my reader I take at least an hour to go through all the articles. I’m learning to skip more and comment only on articles where I have something to say.

Life comes first. Great reminder!

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