Is Your To-Do List Never-ending

By: Alysia Lyons

(3 min read)

I give myself a lot to do. Like, a lot!

I have three businesses, I have my own blog, I guest blog for someone, I have a podcast, and, just for fun, I decided to become a contributing author to a monthly mom magazine. All that on top of being a mom and a partner, a daughter, a sister, and a friend to many.

There are a lot of tasks I put on my to-do list every day, and a lot of it doesn’t get done, especially when I go on vacation, plan on doing work, and then let all of my to-do items become overdue. Literally, all of them.

I was out of my office for 10 days. So for 10 days, I wasn’t accepting or making business calls. That starts to add up after a while. During my first week back, I felt tethered to my desk, and my now overdo list wasn’t getting any shorter. It was only continuing to grow.

This morning, everything came to a head. My son, Zander, stayed home sick, and although he was really sluggish when I agreed to let him stay home, he suddenly became a big ball of energy and asked me to do everything under the sun with him.

After my first call ended early and I got a heat advisory for today (the temperature was going to rise to 99 degrees when yesterday it was 75 at most!), I decided to go for a walk with the dogs a little earlier than normal. I’m really not interested in going for a walk in 100-degree weather.

When I came back from my walk, my next appointment no-showed on me, and I found myself relieved. That’s really not a sign of someone who is living their best life and feeling rested and balanced. I’d been praying for free time to sit and do nothing. I had the feeling this morning that all I wanted to do was zone out.

I’ve worked hard to be present in my life and not zone out, but here I was, longing for a break after my 10-day break. I knew I needed to do something different.

I thought about ignoring my ever-growing to-do list for another day, doing some cross stitch, and watching the current season of The Crown (i.e., zone out), but that won’t solve my problem, in fact, it would just perpetuate the problem.

I made a commitment to myself to only do things I want to do about a month ago. “I do what I want!” has been a motto of mine for a long time. So I looked around and asked myself, “What do I want to do?”

The answer surprised me. I actually wanted to do some work, but I wanted to work from the couch instead of my desk. And so I grabbed my laptop and sat on the couch.

Then I asked myself what I wanted to do again. This time, the response was I want to clear my to-do list. I started at the top. I reassigned things from April 13^th (Yes, I’m that behind) to May 13^th. I already started feeling better!

I had a few YouTube videos to listen to on my list, so I knocked those out. I continued to make my way through the to-do list, and I started feeling better and better.

I came to the conclusion that our to-do list is never done. That’s why it’s called a to-do list and not a to-done list! And if I continue to feel behind on my to-do list, I will never feel caught up or dream of all the dreams ahead!

I am only one human, and there are only 24 hours in the day. I choose not to feel stressed, busy, and behind all day, every day. I choose to create peace in my life and enjoy as much of it as I possibly can.

If you’re looking to join a supportive community of Facebook moms, feel free to join my group, Moms Conquering Guilt. I am passionate about helping busy moms determined to enjoy every day, love on their kids more, and feel freedom in their life. Don’t settle for the status quo; you deserve so much more.

Alysia Lyons
All Things Wellness, LLC
coachalysialyons@gmail.com

The information provided is the opinion of the author. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The author, the business, All Things Wellness, LLC, and its owner Peggy Willms, are not liable for risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information in this article or website. We assume no responsibility for tangible and intangible damages such as physical harm caused by using a product, loss of profits or loss of data, and defamatory comments. This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn from qualifying purchases.