Confessions of a To Do Lister

I am a to do list person. I love them and I totally thrive off of them. Which is good a thing, because to do lists give me a lot space in my brain. If I try to keep track of it all with out writing it down, then I just become scattered and crazy. But when I write it down, I am instantly relieved. It also keeps me motivated. I can accomplish so much more when I have a list- which becomes a schedule- which usually happens.

BUT… It can also be a bad thing. I recently realized that I often base my happiness with myself on how much I’ve accomplished on my to do list. If I haven’t done very much off of it at the end of the day, then I feel fairly worthless. This has caused me to think about what kind of person I want to be. Do I want to be the type of person who gets an insane amount done each day and always works really hard… or do I want to be the type of person who has goals for the day, but who can ignore those goals if a greater need arises?– well by the way I said that, you can probably tell that I want to be the latter. It’s good to be busy and to get things done, but sometimes I’m so set on my goals that I can’t stop to do something better… like make someone feel loved, play with my nieces, help my husband get his car fixed because his life is crazy, spend time with a friend, or etc. When you really think about it, those things matter so much more. Friends and family matter more at the end of the day than getting my laundry done… I’m just not great at remembering that in the moment.

So here’s what I’ve decided- to do’s are great, but I also need to plan time to slow down and make sure there isn’t something better to be doing. If the Spirit is trying to tell me something, then I don’t want to be rushing around like crazy and miss it. I want to be ready to listen and change my plans. I’ve also decided that I need to change how I view a “successful” day. It can’t be based off of what I’ve gotten done, but what I’ve done that truly matters.

I watched this video the other day and was basically a puddle. It portrays everything I’ve had on my mind.

I put this on FB and my awesome friend, Kris, commented that she can sometimes tell how much time she’s spent serving others in a day by how dirty her house it! What a better way to view life? A dirty house doesn’t always mean I’m a failure, but that I’ve had other, more important priorities.

Last night, I looked around our room at how many clothes Joe had sprawled across the floor and instead of getting bugged at him (which I’m too good at) I thought about all that he had going on- a 40 hour week at work, a full-time school schedule, and applying to grad schools… then I realized that he had ignored all of that, plus a dirty room, to spend all day with me. We had lunch with his sister and visited his dad, we went to the temple, we got dinner, and we spent time with my family…. Looks like he has his priorities straight. I’m so grateful for his example.

Here’s my vow to become a better prioritized to-do lister. I know it will make me a better and happier person. Go Team!