137 The Battle of the To-Do List

Do you have a love/hate relationship with your to-do list, too?

In this episode, we talk about why that is, and ways we deal with it, including some practical changes we’ve made recently to help us just enjoy life more.

The discussion of the main topic starts at about 5:00.

(after Siena has a laugh attack and we use an air fryer for the first time)

The episode includes ideas like:

• our experience with various productivity systems over the years, such as Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and the Franklin Covey Planners, and David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD)

• the psychology of accepting that you won’t be able to do ‘all the things’

• creative, spiritually centered work is not quantifiable,

• is often met with resistance,

• even or especially your own internal resistance,

• because our society has been built on being able to quantify things, including tasks and ‘accomplishments,’

• and conceiving of “value” as dependent on quantification.

• getting lots of smaller, less important things done vs. making progress on one big, important thing

• scheduling your tasks with your individual biological rhythms in mind (eg: do you feel mentally sharp in the early mornings, or late at night, or…?)

• the best schedule and productivity system for you will always change depending on your individual circumstances, including your various responsibilities, deadlines, physical and mental capacities and bandwidth, etc.

• expectations can cause pain, whether of other people or situations

• our culture assumes that the ideal success is to “be the winner, victor, overcomer, and conquer who defies the odds,”

• and so it’s blind to the opposite but equally beautiful ideal that success can also look like being a simple team player who accepts and fulfills their role with a generosity of spirit, instead of rebelling against it.