askyermom

I know! If you’re like me, even having one plan on one day can be too much sometimes.

Plans are important, because it’s how we choose where we think we want to land. Nobody plans to fall off a boat, drunk, but if they did there are two basic requirements: be on a boat and be drunk.

Planning is not difficult.

If it is overwhelming, there are a couple of things you can try. Simmer down and think about how these too-many plans rank in your Top Goals. Top Goals are the ones you won’t let go of on purpose, like Excellent Health, Civility for Everyone, and a Perfect Beehive Hairdo at All Times.

You decide what is the very most important set of goals for you.

If you are obsessed with getting your neighbor to stop blocking your driveway, maybe take a minute to think about how much you want Peace at Home as a Top Goal. If you start a driveway war, you might win the war, but you will have had a war you didn’t want. Maybe give the situation time to resolve and time for a solution to prance into the middle. They do that, you may have noticed.

If your neighbor is determined to mess with you, knowingly, driveway resignation might be the lesser evil. It’s not going to get better if you flatten his tires. Let’s scratch that item off the plan.

If you want your home to be spotless so that other people don’t judge you, remember, they are going to judge you anyway. Can’t stop ’em! You can judge your home “good enough” at any time you like, however. That’s the only judgement that has to matter to you.

If your list is still too long for comfort after paring down your tasks by importance, you can split your lists into two categories: Today or Not Today. If “Today” is still too gnarly, use a smaller piece of paper. Start over without looking at the original list and recreate it, smaller. If you forgot something, it probably doesn’t matter as much for today.

Still too much? Go smaller still!!

You know those tiny notepads that are 2 inches square? Sometimes my whole month is represented there and that’s okay.

The tricky thing is that we may “forget” the most important things, so while I love the idea of throwing away the to-do list at intervals, before you crumple it up, look at the things you keep “forgetting” to do. If we forget something, it’s a lapse, no big deal. When we “forget” over and over to make a phone call or find a piece of paper, it can mean that we are avoiding something. This is not always bad news, but it’s not good news if you don’t understand why your mind wants to dodge that one little thing.

Only you can solve the mystery. What are you so afraid of that you won’t sit down with that one form or send that one message or ask that one question. If you want to figure it out, you will figure it out.

Love,
yermom

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