to-do list Archives - Liz Esquirol

Unfinished Business

Good intentions.

We all have them. I have them every day. I suspect you have a list of them as well.

As I was cleaning out my email Inbox, I noticed all those emails – offers, classes, promotions – that I just never got around to doing. I save them as “unread” with the expectation that I will get back to them, and partake.

I want to…I really do. But I also know there is only so much time in the day, hours in my week. Time management appears to be one of the greatest complaints of our modern society. “I don’t have enough time” is uttered more than “Please” and “Thank you”. Many a final thought before falling asleep is what we didn’t get done that day. We are overwhelmed and underpaid by our dear friend Father Time.

So, what do we do about it?

Perhaps we just do what I did with my emails – I deleted them. I got ruthless for a few minutes and deleted all those that had either been sitting there too long, or that I just knew I could “let go” this round. There’s only so many shows I can buy tickets to, seminars I can attend, or Walkathons I can donate to before I hit the saturation point. I see it like the fine art of whittling – when you take a basic tree stick and fashion it into an amazing utensil, perfect for hotdog roasting over a campfire. Scrape away what you don’t need and get to the “point.”

It’s a difficult task, I know. We go through this while spring cleaning our bulging closets; when scheduling the kids school and sporting events on the refrigerator calendar. We run up against the ole clock, time and time again, praying for just a few extra minutes.

I give you permission to let go of unfinished business (not that you need my permission, but it helps to get the friendly nudge.) To understand that there are ALWAYS going to be things left undone – and that it’s perfectly okay to do so. The universe will understand, I promise.

What unfinished business can you delete from your list? Let me know. – BB

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The Big List

It’s what all those sticky notes were made for…the proverbial To-Do List. Countless of us have made them…daily, weekly, yearly…in notebooks, on scrap paper, in journals, on our hands. We have our tasks we MUST complete.

I was away one weekend with some friends at their cabin in upstate NY, and we came upon, in one of the many notepads and journals lying around for drawing, writing and creating, a To-Do list that Tracy had written.

It had 8 items – not extraordinarily long as lists go – but it was extraordinary in its content. This was no “pick up dry cleaning, write thank you note, call mom,” type of list – this was a wish list – honest and forthright, with no apologies.

My favorite part is the order in which her list was made – the first item being something that could possibly take a lifetime (if ever) to achieve. The second item was not necessarily something someone can “do”, and the last, was as simple and easy as walking over to the cooler.

Here goes:
Build log cabin for 8.
Win lottery.
Buy plane.
Build helioport. (an inadvertent ‘o’ inserted)
Quit job.
Retire.
Watch hummingbirds all day.
Drink beer!

The list got progressively easier as it went on (I suspect item #8 had something to do with that.) Each item was checked (Tracy isn’t quite sure why) – although I admire her determination, as if checking the items off gives a feeling of completion.

The good news is I can honestly say that I saw her achieve the last two that weekend. And as for #4 and #5, she has taken a left turn and started a new career after a stint in grad school (“retiring” in essence from an old job.) So 4 out of 8 isn’t so bad.

Now if she would only win that lottery. – BB

Do you have a Big List you would like to share?