Tired of Your To Do List? Make a Possible List

Much Ado about To-Do Lists

Last time I checked (about five seconds ago), the internet told me that there were over 8 trillion hits for the search term “to-do list”. In our hyper-quantified, uber-productive, checklist driven era, this is not surprising, apparently, there are a lot of us searching for, creating, using and otherwise thinking about to-do lists. Yet, despite the ubiquity of this handy tool (the Wiki on time management is an interesting read), those lists, however, short, long, or somewhere in between, can cause a great deal of angst. When it comes to talking about the things on the list, we often pepper our vocabulary with words like “have to” our “should” as we march through our days ticking things off the list (or not). And yes, crossing things off the list is its own reward (and yes, I have written things down after I’ve done them just so that I can cross it off, but I digress) but there is always something else to place on the list. Cross off one item, and lo and behold the next day, another one appears in its place. It can be like trying to pick up marbles while wearing roller skates.

A To-Do List from the Future?

This morning, I was thinking about the future, if I were to write a list for myself a year from now, what might that list look like, what might be the same or different. I was feeling stuck. There are so many variables in my life right now, it is hard to imagine which of the dozens of possible lists I might be ticking my way through. Thus, I decided to instead make a possible list.

A Possible List?

Would you go online, search for a Google flight, select the I’m feeling lucky option, then buy the ticket, would you spend the day at a book store and buy every book you wanted, spend a day a the movies sneaking from theater to theater, sleep all day, hire a marching band to accompany you on your morning run, call someone and try to heal a broken relationship, take the kids on a spontaneous field trip, bake 37 pies, buy scarves and distribute them to the homeless. Things for others, things for yourself, things for people, the planet. WHATEVER YOU WANT.  They can take only a few minutes, a few hours, a few days. Write them all down. It is your possible.

And remember, because it is on the possible list doesn’t mean you commit to doing it, indeed some things might appear on the list that it might not be prudent to do, or at least do right now. The point is that it is easy to feel trapped by a to-do list. Most of us have these things that we WANT to do, but we can’t seem to get them because of all the things we HAVE to do. It is important to remind ourselves that those other things, those possible things, are still there, they exist. On this list might be things you want to do, but haven’t yet done, things you might never do but its fun to imagine, things that you have been ignoring or delaying, whatever. It is your possible.

Instructions for a Possible List

Get Ready, Get Set!

So, for those of you that want more specific instructions or to skip ahead, here you go.

Gather your writing implement of choice, find a space where you can work uninterrupted for a few minutes, and if you have a timer, great.

Go!

Set the timer for three minutes and write as many things as you can think of, try not to censor or judge, these are just alternate things that you could do.

Done & Bonus

The list is done. If you are so inclined, take a moment to reflect on the list. What (if anything) appeared that may have surprised you? Are there any themes or patterns that you notice? How did it feel to create the list? Did any insights appear after doing this exercise, write them down.

Now stash the list somewhere safe, we will come back to it at some point.