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Organize (or RE-Organize) Your To-Do List

Best laid plans and all…

I’m not going to lie when I tell you that I was feeling ridiculously proud of myself as I had completed daily tasks, sometimes multiple daily tasks, every day for almost two solid weeks that was leading to a very organized feeling.

And then my daughter came home from school for her Easter break, caught a bug, and the week that followed was nothing short of rough with returning to work, taking her back to school, being the “responsible adult” for day-to-day things that take up too much time in my life, and a few of my own health issues sneaking up on me. Genealogy organization? It just wasn’t happening.

Today, however, it’s 70 degrees in western New York, and the sun is shining – which can bring a new perspective despite what the last few days may have thrown at me. I’m back to #FindingMyJoy, and continuing my journey through genealogy organization this month.

So, while The Genealogy Guys recommend Organizing your To-Do List, I will be Re-Organizing mine – just to get myself back on track to finish strong. I learned while in my cluttered state, that I truly wanted to form a minimalist attitude, because I couldn’t do clutter and still be effective at this. (Discovering your own self-diagnosed ADHD at 50 can reveal a lot about your own life!) However you may choose to organize your own list is what works best for you. Whether it’s a piece of paper or an entire notebook, or you keep 3M in business by purchasing their sticky notes to post all over your desk – You do you!

My preferred method is to use my Google calendar – at least for now it seems to be working, even after a busy week where NOTHING was accomplished that I had hoped to do. The tasks are still there reminding me to finish them, I merely need to move them to available days to complete them. My calendar is planned with the month in view, scheduling specific tasks that I want to see completed throughout the month. When the specific day has more than a few tasks, I prioritize the list – the trick being not to overwhelm the day. If I still have time in my day to complete more, I just look at another day’s list, and pick a task.

The satisfaction comes not only in seeing each item physically done (such as a cleaned off desk), but also in “marking complete” on my calendar, and seeing all of the tasks crossed off.

~ C.