How long is your To Do list?

How long have items been on your To Do list?

Ouch! Did I just hit a sore spot? My To Do list is on a whiteboard along the busiest hallway in the house. I have one item on the list: sort papers.

Initially, I put the item up there to remind my wife and me to sort finance papers that were cluttering her desk. That task got done to her credit, without my help. But the task is still on the whiteboard. I keep it there because I have my own papers to sort.

Here’s the routine. I work at a corner desk with my desktop in the corner and the working screens to the right. That’s where the magic happens for these posts. (Not always so magical? Sorry, I try.)

When I have receipts, study notes, and the like that are part of my home finance, writing, etc., they are on the desk in front of me by the monitors. When that pile becomes unmanageable, the pile goes to the desk on my left. This desk is supposed to be for open-book study. That hasn’t happened for quite some time, I confess.

Eventually, I feel overwhelmed by that pile and it moves to a table behind me. Somewhere under this pile of mess is a historical record of my paper life. (BTW, does anyone want to buy two Pyrex bread baking tubes? It’s on my list of e-bay items to sell.)

Anyway, the pressing question is, “Why don’t I sort and file (or toss) the papers right away?” The sad truth is, I don’t want to. It is emotionally too hard and takes precious time away.

The solution is obvious. Bite the bullet (that must be dangerous), pull up your man pants (sorry ladies), put your nose to the grindstone (ouch, that’s gotta hurt), and just do it.

Sorry, I don’t have anything more to say. Procrastination is arguably a weakness. At least I have identified my weakness and own it. That is the first step to solving a problem, isn’t it… admit you have a problem?

Much of life consists of hard work. I’m not going to try and tell you how to do the hard work. Your way is most likely different than my way. But the truth is, we ALL gotta do the hard work… eventually. There I go, back to procrastination.

Let’s leave it here for now, on my pile. As always, press the like button or feel free to comment. If you hit like, I will assume you share in the same pain.