Better late or never: to-do list strategies

Over the past year or two, the wonderful realization that I don’t have to do everything on my ‘to do’ list has started to dawn on me.

I remember first realizing this when I was almost at the top of an uphill hike: I didn’t have to go all the way to the top if I didn’t want to, and not reaching the summit didn’t have to leave me feeling disappointed in the hike or myself. I knew I could make it to the top, and that I might be missing out on a view, but that in some cases forcing myself to keep going wasn’t necessary and could even detract from the experience. Not to say that there haven’t been times I’ve pushed myself beyond the ‘fun’ point and then had it all be worth it for the view and satisfaction, but knowing there are alternatives now leaves ‘going on’ or ‘turning back’ both as viable options.

Sometimes it’s better to do ‘to do’ things later or, even, never! A friend’s postdoc advisor suggests making 2 ‘to do’ lists: one of ‘must dos’ and the other of ‘maybe dos’. Since I am a huge list-maker, I’ve found one method that works for me is to fold a piece of paper into quarters, then use the 4 quadrants to make lists of things ‘to do’ (1) today, (2) this week, (3) this month, and (4) at some point. In a quick web search, it looks like ‘to do list strategies’ is a popular New Year’s topic, and that the most common suggestion is to prioritize and start with the highest priority. This strategy works best for me as far as grad school. In contrast, when it comes to sewing for the shop and custom orders, I always start with the smallest, easiest projects, because remaining tasks feel less daunting when I’m done with the easy ones. Finally, one great suggestion I read is to identify your most and least productive times of day and plan tasks to match your focus level. For me, this means reading papers first thing in the morning and doing any web database searches after lunch and in the afternoon.

Last month, just before Christmas, I was overwhelmed by keeping up with custom Cascade Lemonade orders, preparing for a meeting with my advisor in California, and other family holiday activities. I ended up leaving several ‘to do’ items for later or never, including making many gifts and a wreath for our front door. This weekend, I finally got around to making the wreath, from greenery and dried flowers clipped from our yard, so now it’s a Valentine’s Day wreath!