COVID-19 has shifted both our personal and collective priorities. Despite all of the uncertainty surrounding the disease and our response to it, it does seem fairly obvious that things will never go back to the way they were. Though we may not know what life will look like when this is “over” we can adopt new habits, and ways of interacting with each other and our environment in the meantime. I don’t know about you, but I have found that writing a to-do list has become an essential step in my maintaining sanity. There is just so much going on. The election, distance learning, working from home, so much noise, constant distractions, and interruptions (it’s not just me, right!?) that in order to help tone it down or tune it out, a to-do list is a must for me to stay focused and move forward towards achieving goals.
Pre-pandemic I wrote to-do lists sporadically and they usually ended up on and piece of scrap paper or blended into a grocery shopping list but now, penning a to-do list has become an intentional daily ritual. After the kids are settled into their morning zoom meetings, I sit down with my coffee and write my list on a pad of paper using my favorite felt tip pen. Sidebar, I have never embraced digital organizing tools but I am open to suggestions if you have an app or digital tool that works particularly well for you.
My lists have become part aspirational and part brass tacks making them less overwhelming to complete. It’s more fun when there are creative and fulfilling tasks peppered in. I often need a reminder to do things like meditate or read a chapter in a book as it may not be my inclination to do something enjoyable or beneficial for myself if other important things are looming. Here are excerpts from a recent list that takes into account my desire to get things done in addition to addressing the need for self-care and general well-being.
TO DO
Call Mac about updates to noise mitigation.
Read a couple of chapters of The Most Remarkable Thing ( I finished this book and it was meh. Now reading the Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt which I am really enjoying!)
Move overgrown plants to new area in garden
Make Tingas for dinner
Schedule walk with a friend ( a necessity for sanity and connection)
Cancel membership
Deal with bank stuff and account transfer
Look for bedding and curtains for T’s room
Target returns
Start visualization
And there you have it. Some lists are longer than others and often times, things don’t get crossed off but rather moved to the next day’s list. It’s OK. It’ more and exercise of getting things out of my head and onto paper and then having the great satisfaction of physically crossing them off the list once they are actually done. What habits have you adopted in this new reality?
FIONA FINDS 