this post was submitted on 29 Jun 2023
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I'm feeling overwhelmed by my To Do list. How do you cope? (beehaw.org)
submitted 1 year ago by GandalfDG@beehaw.org to c/chat@beehaw.org
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As the title says, I'm getting pretty overwhelmed by a growing list of tasks I have to do. Laundry is piling up, I still need to unpack my car from a roadtrip last weekend, and an issue I've been working at work has been dragging on for too long.

What are your techniques for resetting and getting through tasks that have been sitting around for too long?

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[โ€“] prof@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

I study Software Design where I'm the "class representative", work 20h a week, I'm also planning my wedding and I have to manage a lot of family and friend stuff. There's a lot on my plate and feeling overwhelmed has become the norm for me.

What helps for me is:

  • I keep a master to-do list where I put in all my tasks with their respective deadlines, categorised in topic, but all collected in the same list. (I use Microsoft To-Do for that)
  • I plan days where I do certain tasks and on those days I make myself a prioritised list in handwriting which tasks to do in which order
  • I also share a calender and to-do list with my partner, so we can keep on track of eachother even when not communicating everything we do directly
  • And I think the most important thing to do when I'm feeling overwhelmed is just starting with something. The next point on your list without considering what else you could do.

That's the gist of what works for me. There are also some motivational techniques for "how to start doing". One of those is "eat the frog" where you pick the worst item from your to-do list and finish it, then the other tasks will be less daunting. Another one is starting with a super easy or small task to get you into a flow state of actually doing stuff. Both work for me in different situations and mindsets ๐Ÿ˜„

I hope that helps somehow.