Tag Archives: to do list

Making it happen Monday

Making it Happen Monday: To do versus To be

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SONY DSCI happened to have this last Saturday night off. Felt very strange to not be going to work!! But I used the evening to just enjoy myself and do things I don’t get to do much any more. One thing being to go to church.

It’s happened before, but it never ceases to bring tears to my eyes. When I go to church for the first time after missing awhile and the sermon is tailor made for me. It almost makes me want to ask someone if they heard the same thing I did, because it is so spot-on for ME.

Lately, I’ve felt incredibly overwhelmed with  my to do list. I never feel like I’m making headway, and I fear I’m going to upset a client by not getting their work done fast enough. My to do list eats up my mental and worry capacity constantly… it takes up my focus.

The sermon this weekend focused on the to do list, and my priest challenged us all to have, instead, a “to be” list and to give it more focus. Be in the moment. Be a better friend, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, christian, etc. Stop letting my to do list on Saturday keep me from going to church. Stop letting my to do list leave me so overwhelmed I want to snap on a family member asking for a favor. Stop letting my to do list leave me in a bad mood when I pick up my husband from the bus.

My “to be” list is what people will remember about me years from now… not whether or not I got a blog post written today or if I got that business card designed by Wednesday. But you know what? I bet if I focus more on the to be list… the to do list will get done just fine and on time.

 

mihm

Making it happen Monday

Making it happen Monday: One thing at a time

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173: Planning my daySurely everyone has seen the movie, What About Bob, in which the highly dependent and obsessive-compulsive Bob (Bill Murray) follows his psychiatrist, Dr. Leo Marvin (Richard Dreyfuss) on his family vacation. The events that occur are comedy gold, especially when ultimately it’s Leo who ends up losing his mind and being the one needing psychiatric care.  Now, I’m not here to write about going crazy — though some days I think I might be just moments away from it! — but about the element in the movie of Dr. Leo’s book “Baby Steps”  and the fact that he encourages Bob to take “baby steps” into anything he is afraid to do.

“…baby step onto the elevator… baby step into the elevator… I’m *in* the elevator.”

Sometimes, I think of that when I get overwhelmed. Baby steps. One thing at a time.

Yesterday, I felt myself on the verge of being overwhelmed. I have a couple projects on my plate right now — projects I am thankful for! — and several more in limbo waiting for me to handle them as soon as possible. As I looked at my to do list, looked around my house and the every-day maintenance it needed, and my calendar coming up, I started to freak out a little bit.

And then… then I just started. One thing at a time. It’s all I could do. One thing at a time. Baby steps.

The overwhelmed feeling subsided. I started to enjoy what I was doing. And ultimately… I still have a lot to do. But its still less that it was before. And that… that’s called making it happen.

mihm