productivity

"This week, I ar' be mostly eatin' carrots!"

If you were ever a fan of ‘The Fast Show’, you’ll remember a great character, Jesse, who appeared every week. His one-liner, delivered to perfection, became part of our daily dialogue at home.

The camera would pan in on a dilapidated shed, with a subtitle along the lines of ‘This week’s nutritional advice’ on the screen. Jesse — played by the wonderful Mark Williams — looking like a hairy sack of turnips, would emerge from the shed, shuffle a bit, like an awkward infant on a nativity stage and then say to the camera with great seriousness, something along the lines of:

“This week, I ar’ be mostly eatin’ carrots.”

, ,

Is Your To Do List Torturing You?

, ,

‘To Do’ Lists Made Me Ill.

Actually, that’s not true. It wasn’t the lists that made me ill, it was my failure to live up to them.

To Do Lists used to be a constant reminder of my inability to make the basics work. I knew they were proven to be a good thing. I knew the key elements of a good one.

  • Prioritisation.

  • Realistic timeframes.

  • Chunking down tasks.

I knew the To Do List instructions. I just couldn’t follow them. As soon as an item joined my list every fibre of my being seemed to rebel against the doing of it. A core ‘I’m inadequate,’ belief was calling the shots, colouring my view, forcing my hand.

I’d write the list with a sigh and then sabotage all attempts to follow it. I can’t tell you how often a day would end without my reaching number one on the blessed thing…

If your ‘To Do List’ is torturing you, I feel your pain.