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12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 619

I forgot to mention that I am putting in practice what Ashley suggested:

"Another thing to consider is to put leisure activities or family/friends time in your to do list. "

When I plan such activities most of the time I forgot my anxiety.

Good tip Ashley. Keep the good work.

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 619

To do lists are and wonderful tool to get things done but as everything in life has its advantages and disadvantages. In my particular case I found useful to put some tasks on the to do lists but leave others to do as I remember them.

For me it is depressing to have long term goals (1 year, 5 years, etc) because I do not like to have my life so planned and I feel like I am in a prison.

Right now I am also working on the treatment goals. I consider a treatment goal something that it takes more than 1 day to complete.

In this way, I put in my daily to do list the following tasks:

1. daily goals

2. activities from the long term goals

There isn't the ideal method and the important thing is not to be exhaustive and give the creative side of ourselves to do its part.

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 57

I have to make lists of important things to do, but other stuff, I do mental list and I am with you Davit what I feel up to doing gets done, and the rest I leave, some days I get done very little too. jaybe

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 4027

Eleveno,

I don’t use the entire system of the “getting things done” author. Being visually minded, I just use the flowchart’s main tenets, and rank my list of things daily, use an A,B,C. I’ve also adapted his tickler file, but that took some time. I think he’s an administrative genius, but I can only process so much, especially with my “popcorn” brain!

There was another book I’d used by Alan Lakein, who would always ask “what is the best use of my time”. I remember using the brainstorming technique a lot, but I’m not certain that was productive for my unending imagination and condition.

Like Davit, what I don’t do today, I do the next day.

I hope you don’t take any ”to do” lists anywhere near a beach!

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

I don't make lists other than in my head and seldom do them in the order that I planned. I may well be the only person that doesn't make lists. But then I am disabled. My day can change in minutes. I prefer to stay busy, and what I get done is what I get done. Some days it is very little. A list would be depressing.

Davit.

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 11213

Hi Eleveno,

I think that is up to you. If you find it helpful then yes. If not, then no. I personally like to estimate but I often go over my estimate

Ashley, Health Educator

Here to help :)

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 619

Hugs4u, I already have read "Getting Things Done" by David Allen but I think it is very complicated and in my case I arrived at the conclusion that what works is simplicity. The audit ourselves part is very useful as you already suggested and I will do just that on the following days to see where I spend (or waste) my time.

Ashley, I think I have here the potential to do some exposure work. I will write a to do list and prioritize it (1, 2, 3, 4, ...).

Do you think it is better to estimate and write the time needed to complete each activity?

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 11213

Hi Eleveno,

To do lists are a great way to organize your day. One thing you can try is grading each item on the priority/urgency scale. Three stars for items that need to get done today, two stars for items that you would like to get done today but if you don't get them done it is that big of a problem and one star for items then you don't need to get done today but you could if you were feeling very motivated to do so.

Another thing to consider is to put leisure activities or family/friends time in your to do list. Many people just record their "productive tasks" but it's the other stuff that is what is really important so be sure to include some of those items too.

If you are experiencing anxiety around to do lists, avoiding writing them will not help. Do you think you could do some exposure work with this trigger? How would you feel if you completed zero items on your to do list for the day? How does it feel when you complete all items?

Here to help :)

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 4027

Reading a tranformational book like "Getting things done" will help you.

I find I need structure, and self-discipline, so that I monitor my hourly tasks. I found using a grid of 20 minutes periods helps. I find I must audit myself, I figured out where my time was going. It also helps to know how long things take, on an average. Once one knows how long things take, and what our goals are, we can fill in our days with a balance of things to do, planning to meet our goals at different timeline of short, medium and longer goals.

The average time I referred to above is used, incidently, by many industries, such as the trades to determine how much consumers pay for services.

With respect to completing your tasks, why not enjoy the rest of your day, and celebrate doing things you like? When you take longer, one has to respect that. Sometimes it takes me two days to finish, because of the difficult or my fatigue or just motivation.

I use a "Daily Activities" list, which separates a) what I did b) What I had planned to do but did not c) What I wanted to do but did not have time to do( from the book "Mastery of Anxiety and Worry"). Knowing where time goes is an important thing to me, so I can have that sense of control.

12 years ago 0 +0 / -0 619

I have a problem with to do lists. They are wonderful and it is a good way to get things done. The problem is when I write too many things to do, I feel overwhelmed and anxious.

For example, today I wrote 7 tasks in the to do list and I am always reading the to do list to see how many tasks I have to complete. My anxiety levels rise with the thinking of so many activities to complete.

I have tried to write only 3 tasks in a day, but if I finish them sooner I spend the rest of the day doing nothing.

Any tips are welcome for working with to do lists in an effective way.

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