Feeling to-do list overwhelm?

I have been feeling really overwhelmed with my to-do list recently and unsure how to prioritise things or what to do with my spare time.

I find myself opening my to-do list, reading everything on there, closing it again and then watching YouTube instead...But I discovered a little tip that I think will become a regular thing, if not something I always do! Definitely something I will do when I’m feeling overwhelmed by my to-do list.

After each item on my list, I added in brackets why I was doing a task. This is just a one or two-word reason why.

Is it for someone else? Is it for work? Is it to escape? Is it for introspection? Is it to feel organised? Is it for fun?

Be as specific as possible! There is a reason behind why we do everything and sometimes the reason can get lost in the process.

Through doing this I realised that the majority of my list was tasks I was doing for other people! This was a good reflection for me and a chance for me to add a few things to the list just for me!

Some of the things I had been procrastinating were important financial things or tasks for work, in which adding the reason helped me prioritise those first!

I also found a few tasks that didn’t even need to be on there! I went to write the reason why and then I was like... ‘Why AM I doing this task?’ Delete!

I encourage you to try this out and see if it brings any clarity.