Winning at To Do Lists

If you could learn to fall in love with your to do list, to enjoy the process of planning and setting yourself up for your success, what differences do you imagine and envision in your life? 

If you could win at to do lists, how different would your days, your weeks, and ultimately your life be?

If you could learn to plan, to understand what your struggle with to do lists are, and to understand your planning style when it comes to making these to do lists, would you want to? 

Intrigued are you … Good, keep reading, I got something for you!

Yesterday we wrapped up the Fall in Love with Your To Do List challenge.

The entire motivation and inspiration for this challenge came about because of you … As a Productivity & Accountability Coach; honestly, even before officially starting coaching, I was often asked about how I make my to do lists. But then, when I began coaching, sharing more about my journey, and people began to really see some of what it is that I do and how I do it, there were more and more questions about it and around it.

In creating the content for the challenge, in delivering the content, and just learning more and more about where others struggle in making and sticking with to do lists, I want to uncomplicate the to do list process for you.

I want you to love your to do lists. I want you to win at to do lists. I want you to discover your planning style when it comes to to do lists. 

I’m going to give you a little behind the signs from the challenge, but I also need you to understand this, the written version is nothing like hearing and seeing the information be presented. So, if you want to jump into the Facebook group where the challenge was held and binge watch the training, go ahead and request access to the group and you can find the challenge posts all in a guide for you there. 

Let’s Break it Down

If you’re going to fall in love with your to do lists and get to creating winning to do lists, then you need to ask yourself the hard questions. You have to be willing to be open, honest, and vulnerable with yourself.

See, that’s the thing, you think that to do list making and the process is about just sitting down and making a list … And while that is a part of it, you can’t just dive in and start there.

To do list making is an art. Now, before you start rolling your eyes and think that I’m overreacting, give me a chance here. Think about it for a minute. When it comes to doing something, to learning a craft, to perfecting it … It takes practice, right? Exactly!

Making a to do list is no different … Well, not if you want to learn the art of making a to do list,  to perfect it, and to be able to enjoy the process and win at it.

Ask Yourself Why

No really … Ask yourself why! If you’ve been in my sphere for any amount of time at this point, you probably know that asking why is one of my favorite questions to ask. 

Why, you ask? Because asking why makes you think! Then, thinking gets you to pause, to take a moment to reflect, to actually think instead of just automatically going and responding. 

We live in such a fast paced world that we rarely actually take the time to stop, let alone pause, or to reflect. So, by asking yourself why … It forces you to slow down for a second, to give that pause and to allow for that moment of reflection.

This slow down is important because you need to understand the why behind your to do lists. But, before we can get to the why behind the to do lists, I want you to think about why you’re so hesitant to make a to do list.

If you get real and honest with yourself you’ll be willing to ask yourself why you struggle with making these to do lists or even why you don’t you make a to do list. Then, if you are making a to do list, ask yourself why you struggle with sticking with your to do list.

If you want to really change something then you have to have a reason to change! You know that you suck at making or sticking with to do lists, or with getting stuff done in general, and you’re at the point that you want to change it … And that’s awesome! You've decided that you want to change! 

Now, if you really want to change, understanding the “why”, the reason behind the desire and commitment to change, is important. The same goes with to do lists. If you want to get better at to do lists, to fall in love with your to do list, or to win a making to do lists, you need to understand why you weren't good at it in the past. Otherwise, you’ll just keep repeating the same cycle that you’ve been repeating, and continue to be horrible at to do lists and actually getting stuff done. 

So, get real with yourself and ask yourself why!

Why don’t you make to do lists? Why don’t you stick with your to do lists?

Why do you struggle with making the to do lists? Why do you put off making that to do list?

Get real and ask yourself why … Go ahead, do it!

Let’s Win

Now that you know why you’ve struggled in the past, you’re ready to make the adjustments that are necessary for you to win! 

You CAN win at to do lists! You WILL win at to do lists. But, if you didn’t identify the reasons you’ve struggled with to do lists in the past, getting to winning is going to be hard. I’m not going to tell you that it’s impossible, or that you won’t be able to do it, I'm just saying that you’re going to have to do a little more work to win.

I want you to win at to do lists. But you have to believe that you can. You have to believe that the things that have held you back in the past about to do lists can be shifted and changed. So that’s why understanding what and where you have struggled with to do lists in the past is important, because once you know why something didn’t work, then you know that you have to make a plan to adjust and pivot from that.

That’s how you’re going to win at to do lists! 

You have to have the mindset to believe in yourself. You have to have the mindset to believe that you can win at to do lists. 

How do you develop this mindset? 

You do the inner work within yourselves to believe that you can do it. You do the work when it comes to setting the list and in accomplishing the tasks on it. 

That’s where working with me comes in. It’s so that we can get to and understand the why behind why to do lists have been an issue for you in the past. Then, we’ll work to create the custom plan to shift those things that have been hindrances and roadblocks in the past, so that you can win at to do lists. 

If this sounds like something you’re interested in or want to explore, then book a call so that we can talk about your struggle with to do lists. I can offer you suggestions on how to fix that, and we can explore how we can work together to overcome it.

Where to Next?

I told you the motivation behind the Fall in Love with Your To Do List challenge, and as we were going through the challenge in the group, and even in having  gone through the challenge and giving myself a brief moment to reflect, I see the need for more.

There were great questions asked, there was great engagement … There was a hunger for more. And I’m bringing more … So, if you missed out on the challenge, there’s still time to get this information, but more! 

The reason that you’re so overwhelmed and frustrated with the entire to do list process, is that you don’t understand the importance of it. You have to go deep … You need to understand the mindset behind creating the to do list and then from there you will see the importance and the power in having and using a to do list. 

Look, we’re about to go into an entire new year and you’ve still been saying that you’re going to do this, you’re going to do that … But you’ve taken no action to get it done! You keep taking it off your to do lists, then putting it back on, you keep just moving it around on the to do list. And for some of you, you’ve just given up on to do lists in their entirety at this point, and you’re just at the “I’ll figure it out stage”. 

How’s that working out for you? Have you figured it out yet? NO! ... Exactly ... 

So, can we stop staying stuck and complacent? If you’re ready to stop being stuck and complacent when it comes to dreading your to do lists ... I’m giving you two ways that you can win at to do lists and fall in love with them: join the Facebook group and go through the challenge yourself or book a call with me and let’s get straight to exactly what it is that you’re struggling with. What’s your choice?

I’m going to keep winning and getting things done … The question is, will you?

~Coach Lee

Your Productivity & Accountability Coach