The Transformative Power Of Mindful Task Management

So we are talking all about mindfulness and task management,

AKA to-do lists.

Our to-do lists,

Just in general,

In our society,

Our to-do lists are massive.

We are constantly adding things.

We're rarely taking things off.

We're just going through the motions and like hoping we come out at the end of the day with something being accomplished,

Right?

We get to the end of the day,

We feel like we didn't do enough.

There were 16 things that never got touched.

How am I gonna finish this?

And I have to do this all again tomorrow,

Right?

Like we just get to that point where it seems so unmanageable.

We look at it,

We don't know where to start.

We freeze and procrastinate because we just can't even figure out where to begin.

And that is where mindfulness comes in.

Mindfulness helps us be more productive.

It helps us reduce the stress that comes with looking at a to-do list and figuring out what is the most important thing to work on.

And it really helps us,

Gives us space to take better care of ourselves.

So often our to-do lists,

And I'm sure you've heard this before,

Our to-do lists often don't include us.

They don't include anything for ourselves.

It's work,

It's family,

It's chores,

It's appointments,

It's you name it,

But rarely do we include ourselves in this to-do list world.

Now,

If you have listened to me before,

You know that I am a to-do list person.

I have my calendar,

I have my planner,

I am a list person.

What we need to work on,

And what I have worked on,

And what I've worked on with my clients is to make that list serve you,

To make that list manageable so you're not increasing stress,

To make that list something that you enjoy,

Right?

Like we're not gonna enjoy everything,

Don't get me wrong.

We're not gonna love laundry,

Right?

And those of you that do,

That's great.

But what we can do is lay out our list in a way that's manageable and that we can find joy throughout the day versus plugging away from sunup till sundown or later,

Burning the candle at both ends,

Plugging away at this and still feeling like it's not enough.

That is the goal with mindfulness,

Creating these lists so that they serve you,

That they accomplish things so that you don't feel like you're never gonna finish it.

My goal is that you feel like you're more than enough,

That you're more than capable.

And so when I talk about these things,

It is with that mindset,

That yes,

We don't need to live by a to-do list,

But a to-do list helps us prioritize and helps us navigate so that when we're feeling really stressed out,

When life happens and we're overwhelmed by something,

That we feel like we can handle it.

So some things that task management,

That being mindful with our to-do lists can do for us is help us increase our productivity.

So I mentioned that often we get to the end of the day and we feel like we've failed.

We feel like we just can't ever get it all done.

When we prioritize,

When we break projects,

Goals,

Tasks down into pieces that we can accomplish,

We feel better.

So when you have a big goal or a big project,

Kind of that idea of like the whole staircase or one step.

So when you have a big thing on your to-do list,

Often the brain diverts away from that because it feels like too much.

It feels too hard.

It feels too stressful to even begin.

So if you can break that down into things that seem easier,

That are easier to accomplish,

It makes a huge difference.

So practicing mindfulness allows us to be more efficient.

It allows us to make better decisions because we know what we're going to be working on.

We know what our priorities are.

We are present and aware of the tasks that we need to be doing or that we set forth to do.

How many times have you gotten into something and then been distracted and forgotten the thing you came to do?

That happens a lot,

Right?

So it helps us reduce that likelihood of procrastination or that stress response where you're in the fight,

Flight,

Or freeze because we know,

We've already stated,

These are the things that we're going to do.

It allows us to be more organized.

So again,

When you have a big project,

Sometimes if you're not breaking it down,

It's easy to lose pieces along the way.

You miss steps that need to happen.

And so if you take and break it apart into those chunks,

You're more likely to get through them and not miss anything.

The next thing that mindful task management can do for us is helping us with a work-life balance.

And balance is a tricky word for me because I feel like when we're giving energy and effort to one thing,

We can't also be giving that equal energy and effort to something else usually.

That is what causes burnout.

That is what causes us to really just find ourselves so overwhelmed,

Find ourselves not able to do one more thing.

If you've been in a position where you're like,

If somebody asks me to do one more thing,

I'm going to lose my mind,

Right?

That is because we don't,

It's so hard to create this balance between our work and our personal life and our hobbies and our,

Well,

Most people don't have hobbies because they're so stuck in the work and chores and household and all of these things that we just really lose track of being able to give to our families,

Give to ourselves,

Give to our work in a meaningful way.

So creating some separation,

Being able to say,

These are my working times,

These are my family times or my time,

My wellbeing time,

Right?

Like creating,

Having those things so that you're on your to-do list,

That you are an important part,

That you are not giving more to your work than you've signed up for,

Right?

How many people have done that where you're working way more than you agreed to?

Having those boundaries.

So practicing mindful task management because,

As I mentioned,

The productivity,

We're more productive when we are working.

We're more focused,

We're more organized.

We have those tasks set forth that we need to be doing during the work time,

Allowing ourselves to not get distracted by stuff.

Finding that space and that time for leisure,

For relaxing,

For whatever it is you enjoy doing,

Right?

Oh,

There are so many things.

There's so many things.

The next thing that I wanted to touch on when it comes to mindfulness in organizing our to-do lists,

In prioritizing our to-do lists is improved relationships.

And so when we are stressed,

Our interactions with others sometimes don't go so great.

When we are overwhelmed,

We sometimes get resentful,

We sometimes get angry,

We sometimes feel like we are,

Just can't take another thing thrown at us,

Right?

So when we're mindful of this,

When we're building this awareness,

We're also able to improve our relationships because we can communicate better.

We can create an environment of understanding with each other.

This is what I'm doing today.

Okay,

This is what I'm doing today.

All right,

Are we going to meet for lunch?

What's the dinner plan,

Right?

These are things that we often get really stressed out about.

We don't know who's handling what.

We don't know who's responsible for what in the household,

At work,

Whatever it might look like.

And so if we can manage that communication better by knowing this is what I'm intending to do today.

And then we can use that when we're having conversations.

We can be more thoughtful of what we're saying,

What we're doing,

Our actions towards people.

If we know that someone in our life,

Whether it's a partner,

A coworker,

If we know that they have a lot on their plate that day,

We can be more mindful.

If we find ourselves with a few minutes,

Is there something I can help you with?

Is there something I can take off your plate?

And that can be flipped.

If we know that we have a lot to do,

We can ask for help because we're having conversation,

We're communicating,

And we're again,

Laying out there,

This is what I need to get done.

This is my intention for today.

These are the projects I'm working on.

These are the tasks that I want to get finished.

So it really can help so many areas of our lives.

Like in general,

Just across the board,

Mindfulness can be applied in countless ways.

And I just wanted to share with you that really it can help us have some resilience when we're being challenged because we will be challenged.

It can help us handle those challenges and move through them instead of letting them hold us back or push us backwards in some cases.

It helps us navigate these things that are often really,

Really,

They feel hard.

They feel really hard.

It feels like a lot of weight for us to be carrying.

So being more aware of your thought patterns,

Our emotional responses,

Allowing us to make conscious choices and decisions instead of rushing through them,

Helping us respond to that adversity,

Those things that come up along the way that we usually have no control over.

So all of this boils down to your wellbeing.

A lot of unexplained things,

Fatigue,

Headaches,

Pain,

Headaches,

Pain stem from stress.

Like if you have been navigating something and there isn't a reason,

A lot of times when we work through the amount of stuff we're carrying with us,

Everything changes.

And that comes through that awareness of how am I feeling?

What's going on here?

What can I change?

So with all of that being said,

That's a pretty good list of reasons why meditation and mindfulness can be helpful to you.

Like anybody looking for any of that in their life.

So keep in mind that mindfulness involves integrating awareness into your daily life,

Into each moment and into how you handle your tasks,

Your to-do lists.

So I'm excited for you to take this information,

To take action,

To unlock your potential,

Everything that's inside of you and embrace what mindful task management can do in your life.