Untangling the Ever-Increasing To Do Lists
Sometimes the hardest part of being an entrepreneur is deciding where I need help most. It’s not just about where I most lack expertise. I have to determine what will be most likely to propel my business forward once it’s fixed. Easier said than done. There are more areas where I lack the skills I need than there are ones where I have the necessary skills—at least that’s how it looks from where I sit.
Granted, there are always areas which have a lesser impact, or even no real impact at all as far as getting me from where I’m at to where I’d like to be. I can knock half a dozen off my list from that alone. But others (and most of them are related in some way to marketing) leave me feeling like a fish out of water, my mouth opening and closing as I try desperately to drag life-giving oxygen into my burning lungs.
I have acquired a few skills in my checkered corporate career to know how to get my anxiety down to a 3 or 4 from the 18 (out of 10) it’s been at lately. My solution—Lists!
Finding Lists in Likely and Unlikely Places
I love lists. I even have an app on my phone for creating lists. It’s my way of organizing my 
thoughts and getting monkey mind to focus, if only for a minute on the issue at hand. With lists, I can sort out the areas where I feel I need help, prioritize them, and sort all my options. Lists give me a certain amount of control in a world that’s typically running amok.
My lists come in many sizes, shapes and colors. ( I love all things colorful. A red ceramic cup on my desk holds an assortment of V5 and ballpoint pens in a rainbow of colors). The program on my phone holds all my shopping lists which are color-coded to the stores I need to visit. My Trello board, though less colorful, holds the projects I’ve committed to, both personally and professionally.
Even my Google calendars are lists of a sort. Each day has a list of tasks I want to complete. It’s up for revision for the 90th time as I’ve yet to include time for learning. At this point, after writing, I’ve realized that’s one of the most important parts of growing my business and online presence. It isn’t limited to the clearly business-related either. If all I did was focus on learning how to write, market, and get high SEO ratings, my writing would start to reflect the one-dimensionality of my studies.
I mix it up with books like “The Four Agreements”, “The Empath’s Survival Guide”, and “The Power of Now” so I can broaden my less tangible strengths and abilities. There’s also research of some kind on my plate at any given time.
From Dreams to Goals to Steps
My favorite use for lists, though, will always be turning my dreams into goals, and my goals into steps. It’s also the most challenging as my dreams tend to be as colorful and varied as my collection of pens. As is true of many things, finally breaking those dreams down into manageable pieces, though difficult, is one of the most rewarding things I do. It lays the path for me to work towards the biggest and brightest dreams I’ve imagined.
Utilizing lists to break things down and reduce overwhelm is the main reason I began using them in the first place. As a single mom with a high-stress career and two active daughters, I had to be able to tackle pieces of my To-do list in small bites rather than large chunks. Only by taking each item on the list and breaking it down to the lowest common denominator could I knock out a piece here and a piece there in the small windows of time between work, school, appointments, practices, and all the other demands on my time.
Today, I have larger windows, but the projects tend to be more involved, and harder to break down beyond a certain point. Where I used to break things down into 15-minute bites, I typically need a couple of hours for the things which demand my attention. Add in phone calls, gym visits, vet appointments, and being there for my friends…well, you see the challenge. Only by utilizing the DND function on my phone and logging off of email and social media am I able to create spaces that large. None of it would be possible without the lists which guide my steps.
Finding the Right Tools for the Job
When I first began using lists, I’d jot them down on pieces of paper. I soon progressed to Word 
documents, but quickly found limitations I couldn’t tolerate. These days, I typically use Excel because it’s easier to set due dates, mark levels of completion, and best of all, check things off and move them into the “completed” section of the page. Especially with my dreams and visions, Excel is still the second stop in my list making.
Though I’m a “pantser” as far as my writing, an element of organization enters my projects when I start rewriting and editing. Only then do I set myself actual due dates to complete chapters or perform other functions like researching publishing options. Often, these end up on Trello nowadays where I check to see what’s on my agenda for the day or week with regularity (thanks to a task on Google calendars that says “check Trello boards”).
Fine Tuning My Techniques
I’m still learning how to set achievable goals though. I’ve finally managed to meet or beat my more aggressive blog writing goals, but rewrites and chapter postings are a different matter, especially when computer crashes and internet malfunctions enter the mix. The greatest lesson lists have taught me is to not beat myself up when I miss a goal. Instead, it forces me to look at the rest of the commitments I’ve set for myself, re-evaluate the time I’d expected some projects to take and the time available, and set more achievable goals out into the future.
Yes, it’s daunting when one project can take several months to complete and has to be pushed out even further. But the small wins when I check things off on time, or even earlier is a balm to my disappointment. I’m hardest on myself as many people are. Once I learned my own commitments were as important as those I made to others, it became difficult to not be disappointed when I missed a due date.
Now I understand the lists and due dates are also part of my learning process. I have to allow for down time instead of scheduling everything back to back, and without enough time to finish one before embarking on the next. As a result, there are blank spots in my calendar now, though they could be labelled “unforeseen circumstance” more accurately.
Still and all, my collection of lists has helped me complete projects far more than it’s caused me to be disappointed. Both the process and me continue to evolve, and isn’t that really the point of life anyway?
About the Author
Sheri Conaway is a Holistic Ghostwriter, and an advocate for cats and mental health. Sheri 
believes in the Laws of Attraction, but only if you are a participant rather than just an observer. Her mission is to Make Vulnerable Beautiful and help entrepreneurs touch the souls of their readers and clients so they can increase their impact and their income. If you’d like to have her write for you, please visit her Hire Me page for more information. You can also find her on Facebook Sheri Levenstein-Conaway Author. And check out her new group, Putting Your Whole Heart Forward.
Be sure to watch this space for news of the upcoming releases of ” Rebuilding After Suicide” and “Sasha’s Journey”.
