Surfing through the Storm: 3 Tips when Facing an Ever-growing "To Do" List

Surfing through the Storm: 3 Tips when Facing an Ever-growing “To Do” List 

By, Michael Earnshaw 

March 7, 2019 

@mearnshaw158 

Today I celebrated my 39th birthday. From the minute the alarm on my Garmin Vivoactive began vibrating, the weighted blanket of depression began to cover my body. I didn’t want to get out of bed and face the day. This had nothing to do with entering the last 365 days of my 30’s, but with the ever growing “To Do” list I've been facing the past 9 days.  

February is always an extremely busy month for me professionally. Basketball season, Family Peace & Kindness nights, Science Fairs, meetings, students and staff getting cabin fever. I’ve always been pretty good at finding that balance. This year was different. This year my scale was sitting balanced, but both sides were stacked.  

Personally, I've been juggling getting a side hustle going, getting blogs out consistently, training for a half marathon, being an amazing husband, and advocating for my son whose current ADHD medication seems to be having 0 positive effects.  

The scale is balanced, but how much weight can these plates hold? 

If I told you I had the answer and everything in my life is perfection now I’d be lying. But I can tell you 3 tips I've implemented to start to shake that weighted blanket off and begin chipping away at the items balancing like a carnival clown car on my scale.  

1. 1. Close your eyes and take 6 deep breaths. If you’re still feeling overwhelmed, close your eyes again and take 6 deep breaths.  
2. 
   

2. 2. Write down all the items and tasks you need to complete. Now, write down the title of each day of the week and place no more than 5 items of that original list in each day. These are the 5 things you will need to complete. Just 5.   
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3. 3. Find at least 30 minutes each day to do something for you and only you. You may need to get up earlier, or go to bed later, but this will far outweigh the feeling of running all day for others and a multitude of “To Do’s”.  
4. 
   

Are these 3 tips going to take away all the stress, frustration, and depression your rocky mountain of tasks you face every day bring? No, it’s not. But it will hopefully help you stay focused on what needs to be done, realize it doesn’t need to be completed all in one day, and stay focused on your overall goals.