A To Do List Provides a Sense of Accomplishment

I’ve always been a to do list creator. They keep everything straight, make sure I know what I need to do each day, each weekend, each week.

When working, I had an ongoing to do list of every project, as well as the daily tasks I needed to accomplish. Even though it is meant to do so much more, I used Trello to keep track of everything. I reviewed the list each evening before I left, and I checked off action items as I completed them. I knew exactly where everything stood. And I set up dependencies: I need to do this before I can do that.

When I stopped working, I figured I wouldn’t really have much of a need for a to do list any longer. How hard could it be to keep track of what I used to need to get done over a weekend over a week? Turns out I have more to do than I think. And my to do list provides a great sense of accomplishment.

I’m sure Trello has a mobile app, but I decided to try something different. Especially since I wanted something easy to use on my phone. I tried a couple of apps, Me+, an Apple-only app, and Todoist. The winner? Todist .

Every night, before I go to bed, I create my to do list. I include everything. My morning French lesson through DuoLingo. My morning workout. The laundry. People I need to contact that day. Walking the dog. Everything goes on the list. And you can schedule things in the future for whatever day they are happening. I can “to do” into the future.

As I complete each task for the day, I check it off as completed. The to do list lets me see how much I actually do each day. Much more than I ever thought. But it does so much more. Seeing how much I do, and how much I accomplish each day, adds to my sense of purpose. No, I’m not just sitting around twiddling my thumbs. And while some tasks may seem menial, they still matter. To me. To those who give me purpose. Even to the dog.

Try using a to do list. You will be amazed at how much you really do. And how what you do impacts onthose around you.