My Daily List

Brain dump and then choose three things; prioritizing what really matters

Well, hello there. Welcome to Monday! 

Do you ever start the week feeling behind? Your to-do list is ongoing and loads of things from last week didn’t get checked off, so now you’re piling on new things for this week? The list feels very long… 

Only me? [Certainly not]

We had a lovely weekend over here. The little one had no school Friday, so we skipped town for a family hike in search of larches, aiming to miss the weekend crowds. Our mission was wildly successful, and the whole way back to the car, I kept exclaiming, "I can’t believe today is a workday! How exciting that I got to do this instead!" 

I always feel like I’ve won the lottery when I take a day off and everyone else is working – that type of three-day weekend is the best. Until I get back to work. As glorious as the day off is, my re-entry is always just as rough. I feel a few steps behind and like I’m missing something.

In general, I’m always trying to do too many things in not enough time. I’ll have a two hour block and will create a list that includes: workout, shower, clean the kitchen, prep something elaborate for dinner, and walk the dog. 

To combat this, I’ve adopted a two-part practice that helps me plan my days, keep things under control (sort of, most of the time – I’m still learning), and helps me feel accomplished at the end of each day. 

Part 1: Brain dump

On Sunday night, I put everything in my brain down on a single page. For me, this usually involves gathering the scattered lists where I’ve been jotting things down over the previous few days – notebooks, planners, the notes app, texts to myself, emails to my husband, the whiteboard on our fridge – and adding anything still in my brain that hasn’t come out yet. The list is always long and jumbled.  

I also usually carry over items from previous Brain Dumps to make sure I have truly dumped everything taking up my mental space. My long list from yesterday includes (among many, many other items):

• Order dog meds 

• Bright-colored jeans?

• Respond to texts (if I owe you one, I’m sorry you’re languishing in my phone)

• Project deadline A 

• Clean out the garage (this has been carried over for months)

• Goodwill run (related to the above, always on the list)

• Return library books

• Organize pantry

• Book haircut (also been carried over for months)

• Grocery order

Once all the things have been dumped out of my brain, then I can use that master list to plan my week. Which of those things actually needs to happen this week? I do need to order dog meds soon but I’m definitely not going to clean out the garage this week, so that can get pushed. Everything that needs to happen this week gets added to my calendar. (I’m trying to settle into a weekly system for planning that I like – if you want to know more about it, let me know, and I’ll share another time)

Part 2: Choose three things

The main challenge I have as I plan my week is that there are always simply too many things to put into the boxes of time I’m allotted. I haven’t found the loophole to getting more than 24 hours in a day and the unpredictable nature of living with a small human presents a major barrier to shifting things in the favor of more time for me. 

So every day, I am forced to zero in on what absolutely matters above all other things and protect the things I deem priorities. 

I am actually very thankful for this. I want to be spending my time on what matters – don’t we all?! – and parenting has crystallized this for me over and over again. My small human reminds me and holds me accountable for following through. 

Each morning, I look at the day ahead, consider any new circumstances (Am I well-rested? Did a meeting get canceled or scheduled last-minute? Is the sun shining unexpectedly?), and choose three things that must happen by the end of the day. 

I call these three things my Daily List. By the end of the day, if I’ve crossed these things off my list, the day will have been a success. I get to control what my success looks like. 

Today, my Daily List is: 

• Move my body

• Shower

• Eat lunch

After a full weekend and with a busy week ahead, these are the things that will set me up for success today and create encouraging momentum for the week ahead. 

A few contextual notes: 

• My workday today is entirely full of meetings (yuck). I won’t have any meaningful time (or brain space) to work on projects and thankfully, I don’t have any deadlines today. I’ll likely pick at a few things as I have time, but am not putting pressure on myself to complete something today knowing what my schedule holds.

• Moving my body is essential, especially before a full day of meetings. I have a workout in mind that I’d like to complete but will also survive if a slow meandering walk with the dog is all that fits in the chaotic morning. I wrote this on the list intentionally vague – to give myself grace for however the morning unfolds.

• Also because of the back-to-back meetings, I want to make sure I eat lunch in the middle of the day. I don’t usually forget to eat, but elevating it above other “tasks” on my Daily List validates and encourages me when I step away from other to-dos during a busy day.

• If I have a project deadline or event where I am presenting in some capacity, that would be on the list. Today is unusual, in fact, that there isn’t a work item on the list, but today, I just need to show up and contribute and that’s important, sure, but not as important to me as the things I chose for my Daily List.

Once I’ve narrowed the overwhelming weekly plan brain dump to three tangible things, and feel accomplished at getting those done, I nearly always have space to work through more of my listed tasks. 

What really matters? 

This exercise humbles me regularly and is forcing me into a new standard of “productivity.” When I truly consider the enormity of my to-do list and the limited reality of time, there’s no way the math adds up – or ever will. It’s never all going to fit. 

By looking at each day, considering every “productive task” versus all the other things that fill my time, and choosing what must happen, I’m slowly noticing patterns – what do I always add to the list? What never makes the cut? How do the patterns make me feel? Am I prioritizing what actually matters to me each day? 

As Annie Dillard reminds us, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” 

So do a big brain dump and then look at your week. Consider today – what’s on your Daily List? Maybe you have a deliverable deadline or a work meeting you’re leading. Or perhaps you must walk the dog and prep dinner. Sometimes I add school pick-up to my list. It’s up to you what’s most important and your priorities can change each day! But it’s up to you to choose – you get to define your own success. 

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Hi, I’m Liz! Thanks for being here and reading my journals on the journey. If you’re new, learn a bit more about me and this space here and here, and consider subscribing to my weeklyish posts.

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