We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.

Sharing is caring!

You will never always be motivated, so you must learn to be disciplined.

unknown

Now that I am a mom of three children, I sometimes sit and wonder what the hell I did with all my time before I had children. 

When I lived alone, I couldn’t keep a small 400 square foot apartment even close to clean, cook my own meals except for maybe boiled pasta slathered in cream sauce (I ate out, A LOT), and I never worked out. 

Fast forward 10 years, and I’m keeping our 1900 square foot home at least livable (on a bad day) and tidy enough on a good day. I’m keeping three children alive!  I am making homemade meals for my family and finding time to move my body at least 3 times a week. 

Me saying this is not for the purpose of any sort of bragging…as a matter of fact, these are basic adult activities for the most part. It’s just what we all need to do as moms (minus the working out part…but if you were around me when I haven’t worked out in a while, you would agree it is a necessity for the happiness of myself and everyone around me!).

What this is really about is coming back around to the thought…what the hell did I do with my time all those years ago? 

While I can’t really remember much about those times, I can tell you what I wasn’t doing…

… living intentionally.

 Whatever free time I had (which was all of it, pretty much…) was me flying by the seat of my pants and reacting to life, rather than proactively choosing how I used my time. There was a lot of boredom, and wondering, “what should I do?”. 

A LOT of wasted minutes. Ugh.

They say if you want to get something done, give it to a busy person…right? The reason for that is the more busy a person is, the more intentional they are with their time. 

But I would add one other element to that… make that busy person write a to-do list. 

About a year ago now, I started a new habit of creating a daily to-do list every morning over my morning cup of coffee. My husband and I had had a conversation for the umpteenth time about how frustrating it was (for both of us) that I missed another appointment, or forgot to pay a bill (again), or simply did not do something that my husband had passed on to me to get done for our family. 

After brainstorming and thinking back to the times in our relationship that I was most productive and felt the most accomplished, we both landed on the fact that when I make a list for each day, I typically crush the hell out of that list and then some. Probably because I’m a little competitive and look at it as a game in some way…but also because I have tangible things in front of my face all day reminding me what to do next when I have a second to spare.

And it’s not like it’s all business…I put “take a nap” on that list sometimes too, friend. 

It’s been almost a year of me making these lists daily, and I honestly feel like I am 2.0 version of myself from a year ago. I feel so much more productive with my days. I feel so much more accomplished. Organized. Confident in my ability to follow through. 

AND, my husband said the other morning, “It’s gotten to the point that when you say, I have it on my list, I feel 100% confident it will get done.” You have NO idea what a compliment that is to me after years of eroding his trust in that department. 

The Benefits of a Daily To-Do List

PRODUCTIVITY is never by accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.

– Paul J. Meyer

1. See all you accomplished in a day

Wanna feel like a bad ass every single day? Make a list and then when your kids are in bed, and you’re turning off the last light of the night… take a look at your list and see how many things you crushed that day.

*hint: start everyday by making your bed, and then cross that shit off your list! Oh yeah…starting the day off strong!*

2. Free up mental space 

How many times a day do you walk around thinking, “I need to remember to call so and so…” or “I need to pay that bill”, etc etc? I know that I do that all too often. However, now I dump that out of my brain and onto my daily to-do list, or in my planner. That alone allows my brain to stop searching and thinking constantly, and creates more space for creativity and higher functioning thoughts. 

3. Visual cues and reminders

There are always a million things to do in a day. I don’t know about you, but I tend to forget that I went downstairs to the laundry room to get a pair of pants, easily spend 15 minutes starting a new load of laundry, going back up the stairs…

…only to remember that I went down there in the first place to get PANTS!

Having a tangible checklist of things that you need to get done each day is a constant visual reminder to keep you focused, friend!

4. Creates intention around your day

The beauty of your to-do list is that you get to put whatever you want on it. It doesn’t need to be all business.

Want to be more intentional about spending more time with your kids individually? Put that on your list!

Want to tackle an extra house project that you have been thinking about for months? Put the first step on your list.

A to-do list can be the action steps toward goals that allow you to live the life you want.

How to Make a To-Do List

1. External brain

This is a term I learned from the brilliant Sara Caputo quite a few years ago. She is a brilliant productivity consultant that my husband and I hired for our chiropractic business when we first were getting started.

She taught me to keep an “external brain”, which was a simple notebook that I could dump all my thoughts and tasks that needed to be done into…to take it out of my head.

PS: Can’t sleep at night because your mind is racing? Keep an external brain next to your bedside to write anything down so your mind can rest.

Find a small notebook that makes you excited you can bring with you everywhere. If a thought comes up throughout the day regarding something that you need to get done, write it down and move on with your day until you can tackle it later.

2. Use your planner

Each day when you sit down to write your list, pull your tasks from both your “external brain” and your planner (or the calendar on your phone).

Write down appointments, bills that need to be paid, people you need to call, chores you want to get done, goals you want to work toward, etc.

3. Prioritize

While I have complete faith in you that you can tear through your whole list before breakfast…we need to prioritize…just in case.

You can break your tasks into:

• Top priority
• Priority
• Would be nice

Make sure to tackle the top priority tasks first…even if the easy-to-get-out-of-the-way tasks are in the “would be nice” category.

Another way you can prioritize, and this is the way that I end up doing it most often…is to number your list from highest priority to lowest.

My highest priority will get a #1 in front of it, and go down from there. Again, the trick here is to actually follow the order of priority.

4. Put in obvious place

I put my list smack dab in the middle of my counter on fluorescent pink paper. I walk by that list 100 times a day and cannot miss it if I tried.

Out of sight, out of mind. So put it in your constant sight line.

Bonus: Set yourself up to win right away

Everyone does it… I write “make my bed” on my list JUST to cross it off right away. My husband told me that when he first started making lists he wrote “make a list” at the top of his list just to cross it off.

Set yourself up to win right off the bat.

Bonus: Add one thing everyday that will move your forward toward growth

Funny story… (oh man, my poor husband…). When my husband and I first started dating, just a few weeks in, he asked me to be his girlfriend. A couple hours later he pulled out his to-do list and crossed “ask Jen to be my girlfriend” off his list.

We are a pair of nerds over here, folks.

But the point is…to-do lists are not just about boring tasks… The beauty of a to-do list is the intention it brings to your day. So why not add items on your list that move your toward the life you want…toward your goals? That move your toward growth.

Want to start meditating? Add “sit and meditate for 1 minute”.

Want to start eating more healthfully? Add “research Paleo diet”… whatever it is!

You don’t need to accomplish the goal that day to make forward progress. And it’s easy to always be busy, and push the things that we really WANT in our life off until tomorrow. Start living the life you want now…

related articles:

• The Quickest Way to Get Out of Debt? Set Goals.
• 6 Incredibly Easy Meal Planning Tips for the Busy Mom That Will Save You Time and Money

Please like, comment or share with a friend!

Sharing is caring!