Grey and Yang dance it out.
Stephie writes it out.

Here’s a little before and after story.

Yesterday I got up with things to do. Set up my planner and get my info organized. Start that course I had been putting off for days, no, weeks. I really, really needed to do these things but I kept running out of day before I got to them.

I looked at the clock: 2:09. I was sitting at my desk looking at the Bullet Journal (BuJo) page on Googly+ and dreaming of healthy stuff like cheeseburgers and chocolate shakes. (Be still, my lactose intolerance!) I had my lovely list of pages to include in my journal (all with especially creative, cutesy, Stephie-style page names) and a sketch in my Rhodia pad as to how I might order said pages.

Cheeseburger, where art thou?

And that course I was going to start? Um, good luck with that one.

So have you ever had a day like that? Things to do, time in which to do them, and the day ticking away like sands through the hourglass of the days of your life? What to do, what to do.

Stop. Take a breath. Get a glass of water. Step outside and get some air. Grab an umbrella if it’s raining or pop on a jacket if it’s cold. Take a look around. Do you see any procrastination going on amongst the trees? Nope, they’re soaking up the light, waiting for the early warmth of spring. How about the winter birds? Nope, they’re checking out the food situation. No planners. No courses. Just doing their thing.

So if you can relate to what I’m saying, you may wonder, “what’s the dealio? Why do I allow the days to slip away without accomplishing the tasks I had in mind to do?”

STOP. Reread that last sentence. Here it is with some added emphasis: Why do I allow the days to slip away without accomplishing the tasks I had in mind to do? Did you see that? Does that spark any ideas? Anything? Here is what it says to me. I had those tasks in mind, up there floating around with all manner of stuff and nonsense, pure chaos really. They cozied up to an imagined chocolate shake; they did the Macarena with a cheeseburger. In the process, they lost their importance and thus any possibility of completion.

Granted, as long as my planner is lying on my desk without those pages created exactly as I want them, I have a grand, built-in excuse to, um, how do you say? get absolutely nothing done, because well, how could I mark it off my list? I wouldn’t know that it was finished, would I?

(It’s a real challenge living inside my head).

So here’s the 4-1-1: when those important tasks stay in our head instead of finding their way to a “To Do” list, the likelihood of their completion becomes slim to none. When they are written down, they are more apt to be completed and get marked off. This process is simple. It works.

So last night, even though my wonderful little BuJo was not sitting at the ready, I decided NOT to give myself a pass. I still had a notebook or at the very least a sheet of paper, which could easily serve as a temporary list catcher. And honey, it was decision time. Since my planner wasn’t set up at least an hour before my head hit the pillow so I could make my “To Do” list for today, I grabbed a lonely little sheet of paper and conscripted it into service. And guess what? Today I got stuff done. In order to finish, you have to start. And often in order to start, you have to have a list.

Let’s To Do It!
Steph

Update: I made that list and look how much I got done. I love those checkmarks.

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I don’t know if you experience difficulty getting started with things, but if you do, I would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below, and if you like this post, go ahead and share it with someone.