The Anti To-Do List
The to-do list, but for the things that you want to and need to avoid!
What we’re getting into today…
Each day, week, month is full of two types of actions - positive actions that take us in the right direction and negative actions that do the opposite.
The Anti To-Do List is a framework to help you identify and avoid the negative actions that we take throughout your day.
I share some of my personal and professional examples and you give it a shot as well!
The to-do list. Something so simple, but so important to the outcome of a day.
The purpose? Guide me in the right direction throughout the day and let me know if I’m making progress on the tasks that I consider most important.
I have a ton of practice with to-do lists, I assume most of us busy dog mom’s do. And most of the time I’m able to work through the majority of it, with what’s left over becoming the top of tomorrow’s list. But to-do lists are one dimensional.
Each day, week, month is full of two types of activities —>
Positive Actions: Things that move us in the right direction, making progress on what we desire to be.
Negative Actions: Things that move us in the wrong direction and away from our desired outcome.
The best to-do lists are great at working towards achieving more of the positive actions, but not great at helping us avoid the negative actions.
To do this we need a different tool. What I call the Anti To-Do List.
The idea is that in order to reserve more time to perform positive activities (accomplishing more on the to-do list) we also need to avoid negative ones.
Here are some examples on my Anti To-Do list…
My Anti-To Do List
Personal
Procrastinating on Exercise: Avoid skipping daily exercise. Even a short walk with your pup can make a difference. It’s easy to find an excuse to push my workout to tomorrow or to the weekend when I “have more time”, but I’m better than that!
Late Nights on Social Media: Avoid staying up late scrolling through social media, disrupting my sleep and affect the next day’s productivity. Establish a cut off time for my phone and stick to the schedule. And instead, reflect on the day I had to make tomorrow even better!
Skipping Meals: Avoid skipping meals due to a busy schedule. Prepare simple, healthy snacks to stay energized. You have people and a pup expecting your energy!
Neglecting Self-Care: Avoid ignoring self-care routines, such as skincare, hobbies, or quiet time for relaxation. As much as everyone else needs you, you need a healthy you as well!
Procrastinating on Graham’s Hygiene. Avoid skipping day to day hygiene practices with our pup such a teeth brushing and fur combing. He’s not going to be sitting there and reminding me. Make it apart of our habits and be a better mom to our pup!
Professional
Perfectionism: Avoid striving for perfection in every task. Aim for progress and completion rather than perfection. This will ensure that I don’t find myself quitting. Subscribe to the good, better, best goal setting mindset and get more done!
Overloading the Schedule: Avoid overloading my daily schedule with too many tasks, which seems to reduce my overall productivity and increase my levels of stress. Prioritize and focus on the most critical tasks first.
Seeking Outside Approval Above all else: Avoid obsessing over posting “every day” to maintain status and peak engagement from other’s on social media. Do not lose enjoyment and focus on how you can continue to help others rather than fight the algorithm.
Your Anti To-Do List
Think about it… What are the things that you find yourself doing that you wish you wouldn’t? What are the things that are taking time away from the things that you should be or want to be doing?
Try it out… sit down and write out the things that you struggle with personally and professionally.
Then, as you periodically review your to-do list tomorrow, take a look at your anti to-do list. As you avoid the actions on the list, check them off!
Send me some of what you come up with. I’d love to share them!
Sam & Graham