According to a recent Psychology Today Article, making a “To Do” List can have benefits. They wrote “In a culture with a surfeit of choices, lists can be a way to coalesce and conquer. A list helps you discern and progress with a clearer, lighter head. Scratching out to-dos can be a healthy self-protective action, or a healthy “defense.” ” To me, it is like cleaning and organizing my mental house for the week as I plan.
Here are the Six Great Benefits of Lists:
- Provide a positive psychological process whereby questions and confusions can be worked through. True purposes surface.
- Foster a capacity to select and prioritize. This is useful for an information-overload situation.
- Separate minutia from what matters, which is good for identity as well as achievement.
- Help determine the steps needed. That which resonates informs direction and plan.
- Combat avoidance. Taking abstract to concrete sets the stage for commitment and action. Especially if you add self-imposed deadlines.
- Organize and contain a sense of inner chaos, which can make your load feel more manageable.
The real key is to have a plan and steps to accomplish it. As a mom of a one year old with family responsibilities and store related responsibilities, having a “To Do” List is important to me as I can see what “must” be done, what “needs” to be done, and what would be “nice” to have done. It takes the pressure of accomplishment out of my mind and into a piece of paper. Stress is one of the top risk factors for illness, heart attacks, cancer, and more…so take time this week to de-stress or “clean” your emotional house! Also, try Dr Jocelin’s Stress Release Essential Oil Blend especially while you work on your To Do List.
