I've Replaced My "To-Do" Lists

I gave up on lists a few years ago. Now, this was no small thing for me, because I love lists. They help me remember things. And I love to check something off....I used to even add something to the list that I had done just so I could check it off. It gave me a sense of accomplishment.

Then I realized something. I was being held captive by my lists. I would look at all the things I DIDN'T do at the end of the day and feel like a failure. Then, I would move all those undone things to the next day's list, just making that day's list of tasks insurmountable. And the cycle would start all over again.

So for several years now, I haven't had any accountability for things that needed to be done around the house, and it was (kind of) freeing, but I also know that I wasn't getting things done that needed to be done. I think I needed the break because I was obviously too tied down by my lists. At the same time though, my house has been a mess, and I was crabby about it.

If you read this post, you know that I needed something to help get me back on track. Not back to lists though.

This is the "notecard system" that has truly helped me. One main reason I like it better than lists is because it frees me from the overwhelming pile-up of lists. Here's how:

To set up your notecards, you put one job on one card. You then file it under the days of the month. You might have some jobs that you do daily, some weekly, monthly, seasonaly, etc. (as often as it needs to be done). When you do the job, you put it in the file box on the next day that it needs to be done. For example, if today is the 11th of the month, and I do a weekly job, I refile the card under the 18th. BUT if I didn't do the job, I write "skipped" on the bottom of the notecard, and file it on the 18th. I don't file it in tomorrow. I'm free. All I have to do tomorrow are the jobs that are filed under tomorrow's date. (The catch is that come the 18th of the month, I HAVE to do that skipped job.)

Believe it or not, I kind of have to give myself a little pep-talk to let myself file it a week later. I feel like it should go in the next day's pile, probably because my brain is so used to how I have always done lists.

In reality, before I was doing this system, the floors weren't being washed on a regular basis, so if I skip it now and do it one week later, I'm already ahead of what I was doing before. A win win. My house is cleaner, and I'm not held captive by my tasks.

I haven't perfected it. My house will probably never be perfect, but I am making great progress!