Tracking and allocating time
When it comes to tasks, having a to-do list or tracking your progress, everyone has different needs and ways to do so. My wife does daily lists and monthly tasks. For myself, I take my life day to day but have a strict timed routine. Other people journal and task out their daily tasks. But I can't stress this enough; we are all different, so what can you do to find what works best for us?
I have tried so many different methods of tracking and keeping on top of my tasks. I've tried writing down daily lists. I've tried hourly, daily, and monthly tasks. Over time, these forms of tracking and time management ended up feeling more like work than the work that needed to be done.
The problem with to-do lists is that when you don't complete them, you lose trust in yourself to accomplish tasks. It's a snowball effect that can accumulate negative results for some of us. This is why, for me, lists don't work. They make me feel like a failure when I can't tick all the boxes that day.
I know a plethora of people that love making beautiful lists and trackers. Myself, I like everything to be as simple and single-functional as possible. I wear an analogue watch just to know the time and date. I have a Kindle just to read books and highlight quotes. I have a notebook just to write down ideas and thoughts. Single-use.
I have forever tried to find a device that does it all. Recently, I have come to the conclusion that having multiple areas that have a single function works best for me. I pick up that object, and I use it for that single task. My main task list is exactly the same every day. I have stopped measuring myself, which led me to this quote from
"The more gaps I have in my record, the less helpful my record becomes." - Ryder Carroll
Am I right to not track? The answer for me is yes. It works for me, and it doesn't have to work for anyone else. We are all different and all have different needs. The only thing that I truly want to track is my weekly life calendar. To show me how much longer I have to live in this world, to keep my goals in check. We all have a limited time on this earth.
What your average day is, that is what makes up the majority of your life. What you do today will be how you have chosen to live your life. So I leave you with this quote about tracking and allocating your time, which makes up your life.
"At the end of your life, looking back, whatever compelled your attention from moment to moment is simply what your life will have been. So when you pay attention to something you don't especially value, it's not an exaggeration to say that you're paying with your life." - Oliver Burkeman
