Sitting on my desk, amid haphazardly stacked papers and files is a cute little Post-it Note I got from professional organizer Cindy Bernstein:
Yesterday's note has four things crammed into the bottom section. On one I used last week, I ran out of room at the bottom and started filling in the white space around the words at the top.
Yes, I know that defeats the purpose. But in my defense, all of the things on the bottom were related. One category = one thing, right?
Wrong.
It's a wonderful concept, this determining the most important thing on the to-do list, then focusing on it, finishing it and checking it off. But, when multiple roles (mother, wife, writer, professor) converge, finding that one thing is a challenge.
I suppose I could use one note for each role, but I fear that by doing this, I am again defeating the purpose.
Of course, there's nothing on the note that says the thing I write down is the only thing I'm allowed to do...but that one thing often leads to another...and others present themselves as the day moves along (or careens by, as the case may be....)
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| Photo: pschubert via morguefile.com |
And since I know I'm not the only person who finds herself in this predicament, I thought I'd share my strategy. It's very simple, really.
I'm going to use this notepad. I could just as easily use a piece of scrap paper, but since I have this cute little notepad, I'm going to abide by it. I'm going to write down the one thing I really want to get done before the day is over.
It won't stop me from making other lists, or cramming as much into a 24 hour period as I possibly can, but it will help me to check something off my list, at least once a day.
And who knows? Maybe I'll even write something fun on the list some days.
I will do one thing today: Eat chocolate.
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