Apr162009
To Do List Foibles
Filed under Self,work by Kim at 3:34 pm on Apr 16 2009
Have you ever had a blocking item on your to-do list? An item that seems so big that you don’t want to start it or can’t envision starting it, or an item so overdue that you feel shame when you think about it? And then the net result is that you don’t want to look at your to do list because you don’t want to think about that item? And it casts a pall over your entire idea of things to do because you clearly can’t get even one thing done?
I have gotten better at handling the “too big” case using techniques from the general GTD approach, that is to say breaking big tasks into individual concrete smaller tasks. Sometimes I forget or put up a mental block but in general, I know how to attack that.
It’s much harder for me to battle the shame situation. I’m in that one right now; I promised two people handwritten letters and for some reason I began to feel like I didn’t know how to write those letters or I got paralyzed with indecision about them. Two very simple virtually unaccountable tasks, and now I avoid my own to-do list. At least I can see the problem, right?
Of course, part of the issue right now is precious little time spent not at work, in class, or doing homework for class. Not much to be done about that.
So how do you guys handle it when you find you’re avoiding your to-do list?
