Productivity guilt? Revamp your to-do list to reclaim your day.
This post was originally shared in my semi-frequent Learn Something New(sletter). To never miss info like this, join the party! 🥳
Today we’re talking about letting go of productivity. (Guilt.)
So much of our lives is dictated by how much we can cram into a day. And it’s never enough.
No matter how much you did today, we feel guilt about the distance between what was done and what could have been done.
I was at a meet-up last week with lovely folks. Some were lamenting that they listen to their podcasts at 1.5x because there are too many to listen to.
Moving faster to get through all the things.
We’re never going to get through all the things.
I like to send an email twice a month. I didn’t last month. Because as much as I would have loved to, we were in the middle of navigating a move across state lines, with a toddler... c’mon.
Yes, I was annoyed with myself. And then I had to say, well, screw it. Sometimes we just don’t get all the things we wanted to get done.
So instead I picked up I Didn’t Do the Thing Today: Letting Go of Productivity Guilt by Madeleine Dore.
Yes, I tried to read it as fast as possible to get this email out last week.
But I didn’t.
Because I didn’t do the thing that day.
And so here we are.
Biggest whoa moment: There is NO IDEAL routine. Dore has interviewed so many fantastic human beings, and her finding was... there’s no routine that is ideal. If you also get annoyed by 20-year-old hustlers who explain the only way to success is to wake up at 5am, take a cold shower, work 3 hours, eat a catered breakfast, hit the gym for two hours, work 10 more hours, sleep for 2 hours... yeah. Ignore it. We have to find what works for us through experimentation, and, it might change day to day, week to week!
Put it into practice now: Shift from a daily to-do list (if you have one) to a weekly, or even monthly to-do list. Experiment with the idea that it’s not as much about hacking away at every single thing today (and if you don’t get each one done you’ve failed) but rather an invitation to let the day unfold. So maybe today was a hustle day, we got through it all. Tomorrow might be a thinking day. Personally, I shifted to weekly to-dos and it helped my lens widen beyond the single day ahead of me. It created so much more space.
If you try it, let me know how it goes!
Looking to find ways to do less, be more conscious with your time? Reach out!
Go deeper:
Read the book: I Didn’t Do the Thing Today
Learn more about the routines Dore uncovers: Extraordinary Routines
Listen to her podcast: Routines & Ruts