To Do Or Not To Do

I hope you have all had a wonderful week! I actually had a pretty good week. Work wasn’t bad, I got my hair done, and I had a little date night by myself at Hickory Tavern Friday night. So, it’s been good. And there’s snow-ice-stuff on the ground right now, so that’s pretty cool. AND it’s a 3 day weekend!

Today’s post will explain the little jab at myself from the planner post from last week. Why don’t I use the little to-do lists in my planner? Because I have a journal for that. Obviously.

The current to-do list journal has a girl on the front with a messy bun. And most likely, when I’m working on this blog, I am rocking the same up-do. And to get it how I want it, I can’t try. It’s an artform. But I digress.

I started this journal to help me keep up with weekly goals. And it just seemed like a good idea to put it separate from the planner. Also, the list started to grow with the things I wanted to accomplish each week, so I needed a bigger space.

Most of the things on my to-do list are the same from week to week. I use little dot stickers or little check mark stickers to mark off each list item.

So, let’s dive into this list.

The first thing is always my water. I have one of those gallon jugs that has the little encouraging thing every two hours of drinking. My goal is to drink that gallon, or at least the majority of the gallon, every day for four out of five workdays. And usually, I succeed. Yes, I am fully tooting my own horn with that one because it took me a long time to even drink a little bit of water during the day, so I’m proud of myself. To mark this daily accomplishment, I have water shaped sticker things to fill in the circle. When I run out of those, I’ll either go find more, or find other stickers to represent that goal.

The second thing is “Lunch.” The goal each week is to pack my lunch four out of five workdays. I try to reserve Fridays for treat days and go out for breakfast and lunch. But not every week meets this goal. I just put a tally mark next to the lunch one. I don’t have any stickers that I have used to represent that one just yet. Maybe one day.

The next thing on the list usually says “Breakfast Out.” This just means I have a goal to only get breakfast out one day a week. I try to make that Friday. If I decide, on my way to work on Wednesday, that I want chicken minis from Chick-fil-A, I then try not to get something on Friday. But if I get something both days, I don’t mark that one off on the list. And that’s okay.

This next one has not been marked off since I started the journal. I’m honestly not really sure why I keep putting it on there. It’s “snooze.” The goal for this one is actually very simple. It’s just to not hit snooze for one day during the week. Ha-ha. Who am I kidding? I specifically set my alarm for at least a half an hour earlier than I need to get up, so I can snooze it. I do it to myself. On purpose. And then I wonder why I don’t get to mark that one off the list.

“Read 2 chapters” and “Write 2 chapters” are important ones for me, but they do not always get checked off the list. As someone who used to read 4 books at one time, and always had a fifth book waiting in the wings just in case I finished one of the 4, I have been slacking on my reading in the recent couple of years. So, I put this on my list so I can try and get back into that habit. It’s starting to work.

And as someone who wants to actually make a living as a writer someday, it makes sense that I would put a goal about writing on the list. But because I do work full-time, and sometimes have other plans after work, this goal may not happen every week, or it may have to wait until the weekend. But I’ve learned not to beat myself up over not getting it done. There are other times I write more than the two page goal, so it balances.

The next three items are things that I just need to do around the house. “Litter box,” “Bathroom,” and “Laundry” are pretty self explanatory, but they need to be on the list because I’m a procrastinator and I’m trying to be better about actually getting those things done. Ya know, being an adult is all kinds of things we have to do and don’t want to.

“Cook something” and “Bake something” are two things I have recently added to the list. I have recently gotten into cooking, and have really been enjoying trying new things. So, I added that to the list, but it counts if it’s something I’ve made before too. And I love baking, but haven’t done it as much since I’ve been cooking, so I added that on there as well so I can try and get something baked during the week too. These are also ones that don’t always happen because I just don’t take the time to do it. I’m trying to get better about it though.

I just added “Exercise” to the list, but it has yet to be marked off. I haven’t been good at the whole exercise thing pretty much . . . Ever. So, I’m not really surprised about that. I need to make sure I just do it. I can’t wait for the “motivation,” i have to create it. But that is way easier said than done, so I’m trying to find that part of me that will force the rest of me to get up and get moving.

After the things that are always on the list, I have the things that are specific for that week. If I have a counseling session, a doctor’s appointment, hair appointment, hanging out with someone, or anything like that, I put that on there as well. Those are things I know will get checked off the list, so that makes me feel good about things. That is when I bring out my planner and see what I’ve written down to get ready for.

I think the biggest thing with this journal is remembering that it’s okay if I can’t mark something off for the week. I used to be the person who would get mad at myself and give up on a particular goal if I missed one day. But if I miss a day or two of something, but I go back to it, that’s better than not going back at all. And setting goals shouldn’t be a cause for stress or self-bullying. They are made to encourage us toward something we want to accomplish.

Because I use stickers for the list and for marking the items off, there’s something even more special about it in my mind. But you don’t have to use stickers. You can do your list however you want. Find what works for you. If it’s on your phone, great. If it’s on a napkin, awesome. Whatever you do, do it your way. Make some goals; big or small; and work toward them. But don’t get stressed about them, and don’t beat yourself up if you don’t reach it every single time or in the way you originally thought. Be nice to yourself. You’re the only you you’ve got. :)