Winter is over and tis the season to clean and do! But before you immerse yourself in all of your springtime projects, chores, and hobbies, here are 3 simple steps to prevent taking on too much too soon.
Spring has sprung
Spring is here (in the Northern Hemisphere, anyway), and we’re feeling that energetic shift from winter inertia to spring vitality and exuberance. It’s that noticeable uptick in energy and possibly a newfound urge to DO ALL THE THINGS.
Exciting, right? It feels good to shed the winter funk and have activities to look forward to – especially if you’ve endured a long, dark winter.
At the same time, this can be completely overwhelming. Where do you even begin when it feels like there are 1001 things you want or need to be doing all at once? Who even has that kind of time?
If you’re feeling that overwhelm, it might be time to strategize how to use this springtime go-energy, and a great place to start is with your to-do list.
Wrangling your to-dos
Spring is often described as the season of renewal, rejuvenation, and productivity and, for many of us, this means participating in the annual ritual of spring cleaning.
Be it for physical spaces, like our homes, or for our head and heart spaces, spring cleaning is ideal for anything that could use some decluttering and refreshing.
So, keeping with the spirit of the season, let’s spring clean your to-do list using – and expanding on – our favorite strategy for clarifying our priorities.
If you aren’t keeping a list, or if yours isn’t the tidiest or most current, here are 3 easy steps that you can take today to either get started or clean up what you’re working with.
Step 1: Get it out of your head
As David Allen (author of Getting Things Done) would say, “the mind is for having ideas, not holding them”.
The fewer commitments, thoughts, and ideas that are taking up space in your brain, the better your mental clarity will be. The better your mental clarity is, the more effective and efficient you’ll be at getting things done and making things happen. So get it all out of your head with a braindump.
Take a few minutes to write down every possible wish or to-do that’s knocking about in your brain. Once you know what you’re up against, you’ll be better able to strategize your approach for reaching that ultra-satisfying moment of crossing these items off your list.
Step 2: Declutter and organize
What’s a little spring cleaning without some downsizing and sorting? This is your chance to clean things up and simplify your list by reviewing for:
- Duplicate entries – This will most likely be helpful if you’re consolidating multiple lists or piles of scratch paper, but check for it in your stream-of-conscious braindump, too. For what it’s worth, crossing off duplicates is still pretty satisfying.
- Low priorities – Is there anything that doesn’t need to happen? If so, cross it off.
- Gaps – If you have larger projects listed, did you break them down into manageable tasks? Did you miss any key details?
- Categories – If it suits your style, you can start to lump items together by type (e.g., home, work, relationships, play, etc.)
Step 3: Keep what’s yours (and give away the rest)
Now that you’ve tidied up your list, go through it again. This time, look for anything that only you can do, and mark those in some way. These are yours.
Anything you didn’t mark as yours can be handed over to a trusted individual. After all, what are friends, family, partners, colleagues, and hired professionals for? (Pro-tip: springtime chores are great for delegating. Give as many of those away as possible so you can focus on springtime fun, instead!)
If you’re ready to start assigning some of those delegate-able tasks, go for it! If not, that’s fine too. You can simply focus on your freshly pruned (and much more manageable) list of to-dos.
Rinse and Repeat
As with any type of cleaning, frequency makes all the difference. Our goals and aspirations are ever-evolving and ever-growing, so it’s worth your time to remain in tune with them. This is a great way to do so.
The more you do it, the better you’ll get at it and, hopefully, the more at ease you’ll feel about your goals and commitments.
Still too much to do?
If you’re having trouble simplifying, you know we’ve got your back! We can help you handle whatever might be weighing you down. Whether it’s finding the right people for your home projects, helping you declutter your space by booking junk hauls and professional organizers, or handling the logistics for your upcoming adventures, we want to help you DO ALL THE THINGS without overextending and burning out.
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Lyrissa (she/her)
