4 minute read
By Bethany Rees

Is it just me or do you find yourself living by and feeling pressure to complete your to-do lists? 

Anyone? Anyone? 

Well, whether it’s just me or it is you and me… to-do lists really are great. 

I’ve made to do lists my whole life. 

In the beginning of my career my to do lists were all about creating focus so I could achieve great things. 

Then mid-career it became about order and prioritization. 

And to be honest, now that I’m middle aged, my to do lists are so I don’t forget things. I’m even moving my to-do lists to my phone alarm clock so I don’t forget important things like picking up my daughter from school.

Again, I love to-do lists and they aren’t bad per say. They keep me organized, sane, and accomplishing tasks. But sometimes, I can feel too pressured by my list and therefore get too focused on tasks on my list which can make me forget to focus on people. 

My lists of goals or tasks can create overwhelming pressure that if I don’t complete the list, I won’t have accomplished my goals. An unfinished to-do list can make us feel like failures within the day, and honestly our to-do lists can even take the fun out of fun things. 

To-do lists can easily add pressure to our lives and make us become task masters that are all about execution and not about people or even being present in the moment.

In thinking about our to-do lists at home and at work, I want to focus today’s blog on a different aspect of creating a list. I want us to consider the thought of making a “don’t-do” list. 

I know that concept sounds a little crazy or  Willy Wonka-ish…you know the line from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory… “you’ve got to go forwards to go back.” 

Sometimes we have to do the opposite of what we think to go where we want to go. I know this sounds like a bit of reverse psychology and honestly it is…but our minds and habits can get so stuck in a rut that they don’t know any other way to think or be. 

Now a don’t-do list is just as it sounds…a list of things we’re not going to do. 

By throwing a wrench in the way our minds and habits are trained to go…we can truly open them up to positive change and release the pressure of DOing what everybody else is doing.

I mean, just making a don’t-do list for the sake of our mental health, home life, social life, and work life could be a sweet release of pressure. Here are my Don’t-Do Lists:

Mental Health…Here’s what I’m not gonna do: 

• Sweat the small stuff
• Let other people dictate my mood
• Compare my life to other’s lives
• Try to control the monkeys, when it ain’t my circus

Home life…Here’s what I’m not gonna do: 

• Pressure my spouse to think and act like me
• Make parenting decisions based on other’s parenting styles
• Live vicariously through my kids failures or successes

Social Life…here’s what I’m not gonna do:

• Apologize for not conforming to worldly paradigms
• Feel pressured to say yes to every invite
• Spend money I don’t have to impress people or because I feel like I deserve it 

Work Life…here’s what I’m not gonna do in my business…I’m not going to

• Work the extra mile when the first mile is good enough
• Make decisions based on popularity and what’s trending
• Choose profit over serving for the good of others
• Make things more complicated than they should be

Those are my Don’t-Do lists for the various areas in my life. 

So now it’s your turn. What is your “Don’t-do list” going to say? 

I encourage you to leave this blog with inspiration to reflect on and make declarations about what you’re not going to do in the various aspects of your life.  That way you can stand firm in your values of what you don’t do and not feel sorry or guilty about it. 

Here’s to not feeling the pressure of trying to do it all. 

Know Better. Do Better. Live Better. Make a Don’t-Do List.

Rocks before Sand!

Scripture: 

“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.”

~1 Corinthians 10:23

Theme Song: 

Andy Mineo – Not Gon’ Do

 References Used:

• Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory 1971 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wgbtOvCOKw 
• The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.