You Will Do It When It’s Time

Don’t stress over undone to-do list items

In my Chicano Studies class at UCLA we had guess lecturer Dan Guerrero speak about his life. He is an award-winning television, live arts, concert producer, and activist who is most notably known for his performance of Gaytino!, the one-act play chronicling his life as a Latino gay man in America.

During his talk he said that there were many things that he wanted to do while he was young, but too many other things got in the way. It wasn’t until he was in his 70’s that he realized that whatever it is you want to do, “You will do it when it’s time.”

That resonated with me and many of my fellow classmates because there are so many resources and so many opportunities at UCLA that I sometimes have trouble deciding what to do and what not to do.

I am like my dad, I make long to-do lists. And like him I get a little anxious when I look at my list because I want to check everything off that list as soon as possible. The problem this caused me was that as I kept thinking about the next thing and the next thing and the next thing that I had to do, I was enjoying my college experience less and less. I was getting homesick.

At Thanksgiving dinner while we were all going around the table saying what we were thankful for, my dad said that he was thankful for his family because he was a selfish person who wanted to work all the time and finish all the projects he has in his mind to do. He got this personality trait from his father who was a researcher at Stanford who later became Vice President of Sales for Xerox. His dad was a company man who was rarely at home, so my dad had to fight that innate trait that was in him. My dad said, “My family is most important; I’ll get to my projects when it’s time.”

That was confirmation to what Dan Guerrero said. I took it as a directive; as a new awakening to how I viewed my long to-do list. As I went down the list again, I said out loud to some items, “I’ll get to you when it’s time.”

What a relief. I felt better actually. I wanted to build upon reducing my to-do list anxiety so after discussing this with my college friends and doing some research I came up with a 5-Step to-do list about my to-do list:

I am not alone. Over 75% of Americans make to-do lists, and of those only 20% believe that they can really get their lists done. Keeping this in mind, I must remind myself that making to-do lists is common and dealing with them is something that most of us do. The beauty of knowing this is that I can more effectively communicate with others when I need to get something done, or when I have to say no to something they want me to do. We’re all a part of this task-oriented world and our time is all about making the right tradeoffs.

The list works for me. Since I made the list the list in fact works for me. I don’t work for it. I can update, change, correct, ignore, and modify anything on the list at any time without guilt. Every time I look at the list I must remind myself that this list is my list that works for me. (Hey, if it works for me then I can fire it if it is causing me unnecessary anxiety, correct? Absolutely!)

Split the list into sections. Some of the most satisfied to-do list creators section their list off into three sections:

•  Today – List what absolutely has to be done today. Limit this to up to three items.
• Urgent – List what I would like to do today if I had the time, but that can be put off until tomorrow if   necessary.
• Important – List everything else that I would like to do within the next week or so.

When I create these three sections I am able to address those items that need to get done at the right time

List current tasks only. My to-do list should list specific, current tasks only, not ideas or goals or dreams or passions—that would be for another sheet of paper. I want to get something done today, tomorrow, or this week, so I should not use my to-do list to think about what I want to do next year or the next five years. If I did list all my ideas and goals and dreams and pursuits on my to-do list, it would get cluttered fast and would be more anxiety producing. That is why I just put current tasks on my to-do list.

Always add some fun into my list. I always want put something fun to do on my list, either in the Today section or Urgent section. I do this to make my list seem full and to always have something to reward myself with as I am completing tasks.

In my new approach to my to-do list, I learned that I don’t always have to be future-focused, that I can live in the moment and enjoy today. I can do this because I know that everything on my to-do list will be done when it’s time.

p.s. You can build better to-do lists when you add value to them. Let this free resource show you how to add value.