Recently I have been struggling with keeping up with my to do list. Yet, I am looking at other people online who seem to be doing great. I am also reading about the activities that I should do to better myself and it feels so easy. Then why I cannot do it?
I decided to look closely to such lists. I have made interesting discoveries.
If you want to grow, this is what you should do:
- Meditate (10 min)
- Go for a walk in the morning sun (10 min)
- Read (10-30 min)
- Write into your journal (10-30 min)
- Say positive and grateful affirmations (10 min)
- Listen to a useful podcast (10 min-1 h)
- Exercise/Walk 10k steps (1 h)
- Take time for your goals (1 h)
To check every single item on the list you will need between 2.5 - 4.5 hours.
You are also working full time which is 8-9 hours, plus commuting for at least 1- 2 hrs which adds another 9-11 hrs to your schedule.
You have now between 11.5 - 15.5 h planned for the day and you haven't fulfilled your basic needs which are: sleeping (8 hrs), cooking and eating (15 min x 3 meals, plus the time to cook the food (1-1.5 h), connecting with people.
I have not mentioned the chores (washing & ironing your clothes, buying groceries, vacuuming your house) which take 1-2 hrs, but you might not need to do them daily.
If you spend the minimum amount of 11.5 h on the things from your to do list and work, you will be in target, with 3-4 hrs remaining for spending time with your partner, friends or kids.
However, if you spend the maximum amount, you will end up with a minus. The day has 24 hrs, but you need around 25.5 - 27 hrs to do it all.
Sure, you can do the bare minimum, but don't you feel like it is not enough? If you read just 10 minutes, but you like the book, how can you stop? If you did not achieve the 10k steps in 1 hours, should you continue or not? If the podcast you're listening to is amazing, will you cut it after 10 min? If you have so much on your mind, do you really want to stop journaling? If your mind finally got quiet after 10 min of meditation, don't you want to remain in that state as much as possible?
What do you do in such situations?
What I have noticed in me and others are the following strategies:
1. completely neglecting the to do list by engaging in distracting activities (ex. scrolling on social media, binge watching on Netflix series)
2. neglecting the basic needs - sleep, eating, exercising - to catch up with the rest on the list.
Both strategies end up with frustration. It feels like spinning in circle.
While the 2nd choice looks better, it has bad consequences as well: tiredness from the lack of sleep and a poor diet, annoyance and insomnia from the lack of exercise and an overall irritation when interacting with people (you need human interaction, but have so many things to do in a short amount of time that you cannot be present and listen actively).
Do you recognize yourself in any of these scenarios? If yes, the question that you might be asking is "What should I do now?"
The first step is to to go back to the basics - sleep, eat, move, feel.
We live in an era where we have so much - water, fruits, meat and veggies from all over the world at any time, 10 types of yogurt, comfort at home, yet we live in survival mode most of the time.
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