I recently read an article dealing with to-do lists. It piqued my interest as I am a big list maker. I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment when striking an item off my list as finished, but rarely do I make it through a day when everything is crossed off of my list. What usually ends up happening is that my daily list begins with 5-6 items and by the end of the day, three are crossed off and 4 have been added to the original list. The article I read had a different take on list making. It suggested that instead of making a “to-do” list to make a “done” or what I’ve termed a “ta-da” list. So that rather focusing on what wasn’t crossed off the list, we should celebrate what was accomplished during the day. I really like the idea; in addition to getting a feeling of accomplishment I’ll also have a short record of what when on each day (because I’m not the best at journaling and recording all of those milestones and cute things the girls say).
For example, my list from yesterday would have looked something like this:
- Read Ally two books and listened to her read one book
- Made muffins with Ally
- Served (and girls ate) vegetables at dinner
- Washed, folded and put away (!) three loads of laundry
- Filled my car with gas
- Did Mad-Libs with Tori
- Emptied the dishwasher
See how much more fun this is? Just look at that list-it feels much better than ending the day with a half-finished list and I love to focus on the positive. I encourage you to turn your list around from a to-do list to a ta-da list, I think you’ll be glad you did!