I start with the good intentions of making a list. I know I need every single to-do written out. So if a task actually has three parts, I write all three of those parts.
It’s always who I’ve been. Something in my brain makes me more motivated when I am able to check off more things I have done. (Pro tip: add things you’ve already done to give yourself credit!)
a sample of how I make my lists (get your own sticky notes here)
With any list (no matter how short or long) comes decision paralysis.
✨Should I start with the easy task?
✨The important one?
✨The one that’ll make me feel like I have my life together for 12 minutes?
✨Oh shit, forgot to write this down. Now it’s even longer.
Instead of choosing to start, I grab my phone. I get on TikTok. An hour goes by, and I have done nothing with my life. Tomorrow comes, and I’ll wonder why I haven’t sold anything. Like the algorithm owes me a favor for watching TikTok drama all day.
After repeating that cycle about a hundred times, I realized I needed a physical intervention.
I purchased a Brick about a month ago. It’s seriously increased my productivity, especially in the mornings. I tap my phone to it and all distractions are gone.
When I feel like I need to scroll, I’m forced to… actually work on my to-do list. Wild concept, I know.
To be really honest, I rarely ever finish my to-do list. I’m talking about what I write down in the morning and finishing those tasks by the time Zach gets home.
Every day I play a game with myself: “Am I going to finish this stuff before he gets home?” When he has somewhere to go after work, it sparks a little joy. But only because I procrastinated all day long and it gives me an extra hour.
I swear my brain has a built-in timer that starts panicking around 4:45 p.m. It’s like, “He’s almost home, girl. Pretend you’ve been productive.”
The worst part? Half the time, the stuff on my list doesn’t even have a real deadline. Except when it comes to markets. That’s when I stay up late and work well after Zach is home to finish. When in reality, I could have done everything during the day.
No one’s waiting on me to reorder envelopes or write my next blog. My brain just says, “Eh, do it tomorrow.” Spoiler: tomorrow shows up, and now I have double the work to do.
The biggest scam my brain pulls is convincing me I have to do this or that first to make the main thing worth doing.
Like I can’t photograph my products until I make my photo list (which is one of the items that gets recycled week after week), the light is right (even though I prefer artificial light), and I’ve collected my props.
I started the Patreon to keep me accountable. (Shameless Plug: join the patreon here) When it comes to the business, it’s the one thing I’ve actually been consistent with. I have that hard deadline. Sometimes it happens at the last minute, but it always gets done by the due date!
I think part of the problem is how my business is set up. It’s basically vibes and muscle memory at this point.
I know I have systems; they’re just stored somewhere in the cluttered hard drive that is my brain. Like with Patreon: I know I need to finish designs by the end of the month so they can be ordered and shipped by the 10th. It works, but it’s chaos disguised as competence.
I do wish I had more structure. I just never know where to start. Which is funny, because that’s probably the same voice in my head that causes the decision paralysis in the first place. “Should I build a system? But where? With what? Maybe I should research ten different options and then never pick one.” Classic me.
If I had it my way, I’d know exactly what to work on every day and what needs to get done to hit my goals.
I imagine Future Me calmly crossing things off a list that actually makes sense instead of one that reads like a cry for help. She probably wakes up on time, drinks her coffee while there’s still ice, and has a neatly organized Notion board instead of a pile of sticky notes (I started offering these for a reason 😅) and chaos.
But for now, I’m doing my best to figure it out as I go. Maybe that’s what business ownership really is: trying to get slightly less feral with each passing quarter.
So yeah, I might be yoloing everything, but at least I’m self-aware about it. And maybe that counts for something. Because at the end of the day, the list will never be done. It’ll just keep growing, mutating, and judging me from the corner of my desk. But I’ll keep writing it anyway because it’s proof that I’m still trying.
Maybe I need to start pretending y’all are my boss. You’re who I’m showing up for.
Do I need to give myself hard deadlines? How do I even do that and keep myself accountable? Give me ideas in the comments!
Anyway, if you read this instead of doing your own to-do list, congrats, you’ve found solidarity.
3 comments
I feel seen! I always have to make to do lists and feel better when I’m checking things off. And yes I add things I’ve already done for the satisfaction. But I’ve been super distracted lately and like you said, I don’t always have hard deadlines. Today I said fuck it and made a lasagna instead of doing what I was supposed to be doing so at least that was something.
I find that how I organize my life and To Dos changes with the seasons. Sometimes I can lean on tech – like Microsoft Planner (which sends ungodly annoying reminders I forget shot) or other times hand written notes and check lists all over my desk.
I try to target a few things a day that are non negotiables. If I need a mental win – I’ll tackle a quick task. I find once I get something done I build momentum to get something else done and it builds from there.
I need a YouTube on the brick and why it works. Bet there will be a Netflix documentary on it in the future 😆
Girl, you brick your phone today?