Experience Peace Even With an Infinite To-do List

You're a garbage collector for tasks.

• Coworker asks you for help… add the task to the to-do list
• New project at work that might lead to a promotion… add the task to the to-do list
• See a new trend on Instagram for your health… add the task to the to-do list.

Why do you do this? Because you care.

You Have an Emotional Relationship with Your To-do List

Your to-do list is full of things that you care deeply about, which means you have an emotional relationship with those tasks.

I can prove it to you: show your list to someone else, and they will not feel a thing. They may be curious about your world, but they can walk away from your to-do list and not give it another thought.

You, on the other hand, are emotionally tied to that to-do list:

• You care about the RESULTS of those tasks, the life that they will give you if you achieve them.
• Or you care about the RELATIONSHIPS attached to those tasks, and what those relationships think about you. You want to rise to the level of their expectation, because you care about their opinion.

And this works in your favor for the most part, driving you to take action on these items you care about.

But it breaks down when you have more to-do than time to do it.

And sadly, because you’er a garbage collector for tasks, your to-do list just keeps growing, and is effectively infinite

Your To-do List is Infinite

The average person has 121 tasks on their to-do list ALL THE TIME, whether it’s in their head, written on post-it notes, in open browser tabs, in a to-do list app… you get the idea.

Check tasks off and new tasks appear. Like rabbits multiplying.

You intuitively know there’s not enough time for all items on your list, and this illicits the most basic emotion in you:

Fear.

Fear Robs You of Peace

Fear is your brain’s defense against a dangerous world.

It puts us in a state of distress, with two options: FIGHT or FLIGHT.

An infinite to-do list makes our brain pump fear into the system, because if we don’t take action on those tasks, it will hurt you or it will hurt someone you care about.

Your infinite to-do list makes your brain looks at the room as if it’s on fire.

And if the room is on fire, the most irrational thing you can do is sit still.

My guess is if you’re reading this, you’re a fighter. You respond to the infinite to-do list by just shoveling faster:

• Work a full day, then open up your laptop at night and just keep working
• Wake up in the morning and just start checking email or messages before your feet hit the floor
• Skip lunch and just work hunched over your keyboard

Fighters believe that if they can just make enough progress on their to-do list, they will feel peace.

But an infinite to-do list means your brain will keep feeling fear, which will not allow you to sit still.

With this approach to time, you will never feel peace.

Is this just the way it is? Are you doomed to keep feeling fear that drives you to just keep shoveling?

Heck no.

Experience Peace Even With an Infinite To-do List

Up until now, you're only strategy to feel relief from your to-do list was to check tasks off. 

For a given task, this is the ideal strategy, but it breaks down when you have more to-do than time to do it, because this means so many tasks will remain undone, hence the fear. 

I have incredible news: there is another way. 

In the incredible book, Deep Work by Cal Newport, he cites a study called "Consider it Done" that found that you don't actually have to complete a task to feel relief, you simply need what he called a "commitment plan": 

"Committing to a specific plan for a goal... may free cognitive resources for other pursuits"

Think of it like hiring a babysitter for your kids so you can go on a date for your spouse. You don't have to be physically there watching your children to feel relief they are safe, because you've created a commitment plan for them: the babysitter. 

This is a revolutionary discovery, because it means that you don't have to grind to the bottom of your to-do list to feel relief. 

What are your commitment plan options for the tasks on your to-do list that you didn't have time for?

1. Defer Tasks - Future you has more time to work on tasks. Can they handle the tasks next week/next month/next quarter for you? 
2. Delegate Tasks - Other people have time, and you don’t need to do everything. You just need to do the part only you can do. Can other people handle the tasks instead of you? If you've struggled delegating in the past we have a great article for you.
3. Digitize Tasks - Digital tools have effectively infinite time. Can an AI or automated tool do the tasks for you instead? 
4. Downsize Tasks - Can you spend less time on a task, accept a "good enough" outcome, and still achieve the result? This frees up more time in your calendar for other tasks. 
5. Delete Tasks - Can you simply decide to do less and say "no" to lower priority tasks? 
6. Do the Tasks - Sometimes leaders simply have to make things happen. If none of the strategies above work, can you increase your capacity this week to deal with the tasks that don't fit? This should only be done if you have a promise or commitment, otherwise do your best to use the other commitment plan options above. 

It's important to recognize that this is not easy. When meeting with clients, we put a lot of focus here, and we help them creatively think through commitment plans that don't require them to simply "do the tasks" all the time. This is why it's important to have outside feedback on your calendar, and ensure you are being honest with yourself on how finite your time is. 

But once you do this work, a magical feeling appears: peace. 

Because you believe there is enough time for the tasks you care about. 

There Is Enough Time

When you believe there is enough time, everything changes. 

First you feel peace, because it no longer feels like the room is on fire. You have room to operate, time to make the tasks happen that you care so deeply about. 

Peace gives you presence. When you believe there is enough time, it allows you to focus on one thing at a time, showing up powerfully present. 

Presence in turn gives you progress. The focus presence provides unlocks greater resources for creative solutions and collaboration with others, meaning you actually make more progress on these tasks you care so deeply about. 

Even better, you can get this feeling EVERY SINGLE WEEK when you make the Time Boss Weekly Framework the way you run your week.

Use the Time Boss Framework to Get Peace Every Week

97% of those that implement Time Boss report experiencing more peace and less overwhelm. 

Even better, this peace creates presence that leads to progress. This same groups self reports these results:

• 32.3% increase in productivity
  
• 4.25 hours a week back in their schedule
  

Repeatable peace, presence and progress is available to you. 

Not sure where to start? Try the 90 Minute Time Boss Masterclass. It's free and will give you the step-by-step process to get peace every single week. 

And if you know you or your team need help, and you want to solve this problem once and for all, grab time on my calendar to explore how Time Boss can support you.