This is an addition to the earlier post on laundry and dishes as suggested by a very close and long-time friend of mine.

To-do lists are the worst.

As someone obsessed with organization and finding ideal systems, I’ve found that to-do lists are nothing more than exercises in frustration. Why?

It will never be complete because we would never allow it.

I’ve yet to see a person get to the end of their to-do list and go, “Yes, I’m done! Time to do nothing.”

Instead, we keep adding to the list or feeling a twinge of anxiety when the list gets to empty because there should always be something else to do.

One of the best takeaways I had from the book, Stranger in the Woods, was Christopher’s response to what he did all day long. He spent most of his days just sitting in a chair and meditating on life. When asked if he was ever bored, he responded that boredom is a word for people who always feel they need to be doing something.

To-do lists is a way to satisfy that craving to feel productive because our society has associated idleness with laziness. There is a stark difference between the two: one takes the time to stop and be still while the other is about doing whatever is necessary to avoid any hard work.

Okay, okay, but what if you have too much going on in your head and you need to get it out?

Then you do a braindump, write it out, do the one thing that is absolutely necessary right now and ignore the rest. Keep the sheet but store it away where you won’t be tempted to look at it.

Then you do another braindump a day or two later. Compare what you wrote down the previous braindump to the one you’ve written down now.

Is there anything you don’t have this time around? Perfect – scratch it off the first and forget about it.

Is there anything you’ve written twice that isn’t worth your mental capacity (something out of your control)? Scratch that off too.

Throw the first list out and keep the second. Repeat the process a week later.

It’s a similar method to bullet journaling, except without the obsession to make a stylistic notebook and anxiety to fill it with items.

Accept that to-do lists will never get done or be forever disappointed. It’s actually best if you don’t even bother with them in the first place.