Let Go (Revising Your To-do List)

Is life too busy? Does it seem like there’s always something that has to give? How can you do it all – and get it done on time?! Maybe something does need to give – permanently.

Do you get so many emails that you can’t keep up? Maybe you get too many. Are they all that important - or a time sink? What if you dumped some – unsubscribed? To maybe one a week – baby steps but a big accomplishment in the long run.

Do you have a drawer, closet, or cupboard full of stuff you hardly ever or never use – but you MIGHT use again someday? Is there an emotional connection? Does the pile keep bugging you, taking up mental time and energy? What if you split up the job and made the approach easier? A systematic approach: Pile A: can let it go; Pile B: can’t let it go; Pile C: unsure. Get rid of Pile A. Now the pile is smaller. Another day, do it again. You might find even more you can do without. The pile is less. You feel lighter.

Do you hold onto an attitude, idea, self-image, view, a need to always be right? Is it exhausting to maintain? Can you let it go? Would that be so bad? Something better might replace it.

Do you attempt to do the same things each day? Could you spend a bit less time on some of them? Maybe every other day? Why do you even do them at all – or think you should? Because someone else thinks you should? To avoid doing something that scares or bores you? Is there something more important to you that would make you feel more productive and fulfilled at the end of the day? What if you focused on that first?

It can be freeing and energizing to let go of things that take up too much space in your house/office and/or brain. Stuff. Taking up vital energy that could be better used elsewhere – applied to things you like to do and are good at.

Would it truly be so awful to let something go? Not ignore it. Rather, intentionally remove it from your need-to-do list. If it brings up emotions or things you need to remember, write them down – to help you remember and spend less time on mental replay. Maybe it’s no longer useful. What can you accept and let go of this week – to allow for something better?