Why record your completed tasks? Isn’t it enough to do a bunch of tasks and feel satisfaction at the time? In this post, I’ll describe how recording my completed ’10-minute tasks’ each day reduced overall overwhelm, led to a feeling of accomplishment, and refreshed my mindset. Which, in turn, resulted in more motivation to keep going day in and day out.
Read this post to find out more about my 10-minute task list. Here’s the original spread vs. the new spread in my current bullet journal. Most of the tasks are the same!
I love this mind map format for task lists – because it makes them feel equally important. I don’t do the same task every time because it’s at the top of the list.
Table of contents
- Create a 10-Minute Task List
- Don’t Plan it Out
- Why Record Completed Tasks
- Add Every Accomplishment
- Create a Go-To To-Do List
- Give Yourself Some Credit
- Today for My 10 – My Recorded Finished Tasks
- It Doesn’t Take Long to Record Your Completed Tasks
- After-the-Pen Examples of Recorded Completed Tasks
- Take The Challenge:
- Moms Need Timeouts Too!
- Question:
Create a 10-Minute Task List
When I started bullet journaling, I remember a conversation with my husband where I felt dejected by all that I had to do and never felt like I got anything done. I know you’ve been there, too. No matter how hard you try, your to-do list grows faster than you can cross items off of it.
That’s when I came up with the 10-Minute Task List. If I found a snippet of downtime, I’d refer to the list of repeating chores and to-dos and see how much I could get done in those few spare minutes. Seeing how much I could do during those few clusters of minutes felt terrific. But then, the next day, I’d feel that same frustration by having too much to do and not seeing a dent in the tasks. That’s why I started recording my completed tasks.
Don’t Plan it Out
In his original bullet journal format, I know Ryder Carroll uses a list format to jot all his tasks down. It’s what helped him manage his overwhelm. Similarly, recording your completed tasks creates an irrefutable record that you did get something done, even when you feel like you didn’t.
However, these 10 minutes don’t require you to plan beforehand. You take advantage of a sliver of time and furiously work from a suggested list. Getting done what you can. Then the fact that you record it afterward focuses your attention on what you did, instead of looking at a half-crossed-off to-do list.
Keep in mind I’m not saying that you shouldn’t keep a running to-do list. Instead, I’m saying to keep a tally of everything you did in a separate “Ta-Da” list so you don’t compare the overall task list to what you accomplished.
Why Record Completed Tasks
When the feeling of overwhelm and defeat kept coming back day after day, I realized that I needed to write down what I did. When I’d glance over the list of ‘done items’ later on, I had to acknowledge that I did more than I remembered. And that’s a good feeling.
Give yourself credit where credit is due, and write down what you do during your 10-minute task sprints. This is part of my self-care regimen and the effort to be kinder to myself. We can all afford to be a little kinder to our minds.
When I started writing my finished tasks, I noticed a reduction in my overall overwhelm. It wasn’t that my to-do list was shorter. It was that I was giving myself credit for the effort that I was putting in. It’s been said repeatedly that we are not kind enough to ourselves. Recording your completed tasks so you can briefly bask in the accomplishment creates a gateway for building confidence and self-esteem and living a life where you’re more gentle with yourself.
Add Every Accomplishment
Give it a try. If you do a 10-minute task sprint and get 2 or 3 things done, start making a list of all the things you did. Add every accomplishment to your ‘look what I did’ list. Then see what effect it has on your mental state. Test it, and see if it reduces your overwhelm and lifts your spirits.
You might find the motivation to keep going. Just like an object in motion tends to stay in motion, a person motivated stays motivated.
Create a Go-To To-Do List
I created a go-to to-do list with tasks I could do around the house in 10-minutes or less. This 10-minute task list in mind-map form was the catalyst for helping to reduce some of the overwhelm I felt daily because it all felt like ‘too much.’ Your task list will likely be different than mine.
After working on the to-do list, I created a little space in my bullet journal to write down the tasks I did in those 10-minutes. Recording those completed tasks certainly made me feel better, which helped reduce my overwhelm. Writing it down provides proof (to me) that the week isn’t wasted, and it turns into a personal show-and-tell of the things I was able to get done.
Every once in a while, I’ll call out to my husband, “I’m going to do a 10”. And immediately understands that I’m going to clean fast and furious or take a break for a few minutes to try and feel like I was accomplishing something. He loved the idea and noticed a difference in my anxiety levels afterward. I could also tell that my focus level increased following a 10-minute break.