I’m a workaholic. Whether you’re growing a business, building your platform, or even just trying to stay on top of household chores, there’s always more to do. Your to-do list can quickly become a brutal taskmaster. For me, it drove continually drove me to workaholism. There was always one more email to read, one more call to take, one more task that couldn’t wait ’til Monday.
That’s why I started keeping a different kind of list.
I call it the “Got Done List.”
This is a list of things I intentionally enter into my task-management system (Nozbe) of what I’ve done each day.
Yes, I have been known to enter a task into my to-do list … just to cross it off. It’s cathartic.
Well, my “Got Done List” is the ultimate catharsis.
Whenever Overwhelm hits me I open Nozbe, start with the date, and just start cataloging what I’ve done so far. I quickly realize, “Dang, I got a lot done!”
After seeing this, I shut my MacBook and went out to buy a videogame. I deserved it!
Turn that straw into bales of hay.
We productivity geeks understand the need to clear the deck of non-urgent and unimportant tasks. These are the proverbial straws that break the camel’s back.
But what if you could reverse-engineer those straws, roll ’em up into bales of hay, and remind yourself of all you’re actually doing?
My Got Done List reminds me of the little things I’ve done that move the ball down the field:
- a helpful podcast or blog post I consumed
- an unplanned conversation that grew my network
- booking a guest for a podcast interview
- troubleshooting issues I took care of
- client solicitation emails or calls
You’re a driven person. There’s nothing wrong with that; I’m the same way. For people like us, the idea of “rest” or “moving at a slower pace” is like our doctor’s advice: we know what we need to do, we just don’t do it.
Consider keeping your own form of a “Got Done List” … it may help you come to terms with taking a stinkin’ break once in awhile!
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