Before We Begin…
I suppose I should say that I have yet to post my Push Goal to Facebook.
Why?
Mostly because I’m nervous about it. While I stand behind my warrior like mentality, I am worried about the social ramifications my words may have in my physical world.
I’m worried people will sit and roll their eyes behind their computer screens. I’m worried someone will make an off handed comment in person and that I will be hurt by their insensitive, though innocently meant, words. I’m worried it will change their opinion of me.
I’m worried about not be accepted and understood, and that worry, that fear, is holding me back.
I talked with Mother Earth this morning about it. She said my previous challenge post confused her, since I mentioned Facebook, but she didn’t see a post on the site.
I explained my feelings, and how I was debating rewording my statements to avoid social awkwardness.
I DO NOT want to change my writing. What I wrote was what I felt at the time, and is still an accurate representation of what I feel. It is the purest form of my emotions and if I go back and change them now I will be bastardizing that moment in time. Misrepresenting it and, in a way, undermining the whole point, the whole intention, of this challenge.
Mother Earth said not to change the post. To leave it as is. Specifically she said, “Who gives two fucks if they roll their eyes? If they do, that’s not them. Not you.”
And she’s right. My Facebook is as much mine as this blog is and I should do what makes me happy, not what will please others to keep the status quo.
So eventually, some time today, I will announce to Facebook my Push Goal promise. Most likely after completing this writing.
So enough about Day 5. We’re on Day 6.
Disclaimer
This will most likely be a bit of a rant / tangent on my part, so I want to start off by saying that I do love this challenge, and that though I may have issues with parts of it (like today) that overall I view it as a very positive experience, especially for people new to task management and goal prioritizing.
Here we go…
If It’s Not Broke Leave it The Fuck Alone and Stop Telling Me to Change
I actually don’t really care for Day 6. The whole rest of the challenge is about understanding how to prioritize, make to-do lists, and how to break down goals into manageable steps. All of the rest of the days are pretty awesome.
But this day is annoying for me.
Firstly, it talks about creating a “Carefully Crafted and Diligently Maintained” to-do list. CCDM for short…
What the fuck? Could you think of a more complicated thing to say? Just say “to-do” list. Or “list”. Or “task list”. Or “brain eating zombie”…
I mean, seriously, almost anything else in the world would be easier to say than that huge, mouth full of words that actually deters me from wanting to make a list at all.
It’s so formal, it’s so official, so structured. Those words feel so ridged inside of my mind that I want to throw my hands up before I even start.
It’s like that old, angry, bitter teacher glaring down at you, expecting you to underperform and not meet their ridiculous, unachievable expectations. There is so much weight in the words “Carefully Crafted and Diligently Maintained” that it’s a wonder anyone is able to shoulder the task.
Maybe that’s just me. I like my lists to have organization, don’t get me wrong. That is the whole point after all. But I want them to feel flowing and natural. I write things down in no real order on the first round. I write the things that I want to have happen, what would be cool to do, or things that are on my calendar which must be done.
There’s no structure there. It’s free form. It’s brain storming. Once you have ideas, then you can organize and analyze. But without the base information you can’t do much of anything. The hardest part is starting because there’s this expectation of perfection. We’re taught, “It has to be right the first time.” When really it doesn’t. there’s nothing wrong with just getting the thoughts out. Rough, quick little notes that can be refined later.
You’re not expected to write the final copy of an essay on the first go. Why have that pressure with your to-do list? It’s BS and I feel that the CCDM naming enforces that unhealthy mentality.
“Carefully Crafted and Diligently Maintained” makes it sound like you have to get it perfect, get it ‘right’, or the world will end. For me it’s too much. It feels like sand paper against my skin. Abrasive and painful and I’m going to be vocal about the discomfort because other people may feel the same way. Other people who may hold the discomfort inside and bear it silently.
I’ll be vocal for them so they know they are not alone, not weird or abnormal, for their aversion to this naming convention. It’s lame. I refuse to use it, and if you don’t want to use that name either it’s ok. Call it brain eating zombie if you want to. Or “Master Plan for World Domination”.
It’s just a name. Make your own if CCDM grates against your skin and makes you want to punch people in the face like it does for me.
I think of it as simply making a list.
I’m not going to make a “Carefully Crafted and Diligently Maintained” to do list. I’m going to make a list inside of my spiral notebook, scribbling with my mechanical pencil and that’s how I’m going to be productive. I’m going to scratch through things I didn’t mean to write, and I’m going to misspell words. I’m going to be extremely natural with my list, writing it in a “I’m sitting I my pjs still, complete with bed head hair” type of style, instead of a, “I need to put on a business suit because I’m meeting with the owners of a Fortune 500 company” type of style.
That’s who I am. Ms. Bed Head. That’s naturally what I gravitate towards. A natural, real, down-to-earth, “I give zero fucks about impressing people (as I avoid posting my push goal promise to Facebook…)” type of mentality, and that’s how I’ll approach my list creation. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t have to be pretty. It has to work and function within my life. It has to help me without being a hindrance, or an added stress.
My system isn’t broken so I’m not going to let someone tell me I need to fix it. Not that Chalene was telling me to fix it… But she wasn’t advocating my system, so she’s against my system, so I have to defend my system. Rawr!
Second Rant Incoming
Because the First One Wasn’t Enough
The video for today’s challenge is 8 minutes long. Which would be fine except that six minutes of it is being told how you really should have a smart phone because it makes things so much easier, and how if you can’t afford one think of it as an investment in yourself and find a way to get one.
I do have a program that I have spent money on for my task management. I use OmniFocus, and it’s an amazing program, and it works for me. I love it. And the whole reason I have an iPhone is so I can have OmniFocus with me where ever I go. So yes, I understand that smart phones are awesome and that they help.
I’m not against technology.
However…
I still use a spiral notebook with a mechanical pencil everyday for my to-do lists.
Yep. I spent all this money and I have this awesome program that is supposed to make me more efficient, and while I use it for the big projects I have, my everyday life is still run by a sheet of paper with coffee stains on it because I’m classy like that.
There’s something to be said for physically writing out your tasks onto a sheet of paper that you can hold in your hands. You’re holding your goals and ambitions. They’re real. They’re tangible. They’re not just data or ideas floating around in your head.
Maybe this is because I am a digital immigrant, rather than a digital native. Maybe it’s because I have an affinity for writing. Maybe there are a lot of factors that go into this being a pet peeve for me. But there’s nothing wrong with pencil and paper (and now I’m thinking of table top DnD… Roll for initiative… ).
It may be old school, but it works for me, and it works extremely well, so it’s frustrating to feel like I’m being lectured for six minutes about why I should be changing my system.
Stop telling me my system is broken, daminit! My system isn’t broken! It works amazingly well! And I’m not going to change it! Moar Rawr!
Moving on to Positive Stuff
I promise that’s the last tangent and criticism for this challenge.
The rest of the information for Day 6 is actually pretty cool. It talks about a few things to keep in mind when starting this new habit, because for a lot of people that’s what this is.
I have always made to-do lists. My mom taught me very early on that writing out your thoughts and intentions helps keep you organized and on track. Lists are like mental road maps. They let you know where you want to go and how to get there.
So making a list was nothing new to me. I did, however, have a problem with consistency. Some weeks I wouldn’t make a list at all, and just jump from fire to fire. Sometimes I lost the motivation to make lists as life got crazy.
This challenge, specifically this day, gave me some advice for combating those issues. This day gave me guiding principles to practice and apply to my life. It helped give me rules and a sort of, “thou shalt honor thy to-do list”, mentality.
So there really isn’t much to ‘do’ for Day 6 other than to start thinking about to-do lists, possibly getting or setting up a smart phone with a task management app, and to read over the rules for creating a to-do list. To know our commandments for this ‘to-do’ list cult we’re about to join.
Commandments of Thy To-Do List
Make thy to-do at the same time each day
Make thy to-do list at the same place each day
Have thy to-do list with thee at all times
Add 1-2 tasks associated with thy Push Goal to thy to-do list each day
Review thy list often
In the beginning I did two of these things already. I always had my list on me (if I had made one), and I looked at it all the time.
However the other three areas were where I was falling short. I was never consistent about when or where I made my list. It just sort of happened, and I realized that though I often made lists, huge lists, and even when I went through multiple lists in a single day, very rarely did I put anything related to my goals on those lists.
Left Side Brain: Hey. Right Brain. So I was thinking… I remembered how you said you really wanted to get from point A to point B. I just got done figuring out how we could get there. It’s actually pretty easy. If we follow these steps we should be there by this time frame.
Right Side Brain: Wait! I got it! Let’s do all of this other stuff instead and then wonder why we’re not any closer to that point B spot that we wanted to get to and then have emotional breakdowns over feeling unproductive and that we’re wasting our life and potential by accomplishing nothing and feeling unfulfilled! K! Thanks! Bye! : D
/dashes off to chase butterflies
And this is why you’re not in charge, Right Brain. That. That statement right there is why my inner scientist gets migraines when you talk sometimes. >.>
The first two rules are all about making this action, the process of creating a to-do list, a habit. It’s like brushing your teeth. If you are consistent with it, eventually it becomes so ingrained into you that it’s compulsive.
You HAVE to do it, otherwise it eats away at you. It nags at you, bugs you, festers in your thoughts, until you do it, and then you are once again allowed to feel whole and to move on with your day.
And making sure to add just a few tasks related to your Push Goal everyday keeps you moving in a forward direction, rather than stagnating on the things you actually want to accomplish in life.
Over Due Conclusion
So all of the rules are important and Day 6 isn’t a bad day. It’s just that the methods discussed clash with my personal system. I know it’s just a, “My way is the right way! Fuck your way!” aversion, but it’s how I feel and I accept that.
Today, as far as the challenge goes, is a prep day. There’s not a whole lot to do. No deep, inner soul searching. Just getting used to our new commandments which will be guiding our productivity lives.
Really, it’s about finding a system that works for YOU. It’s about finding something that you think will help you keep that “Carefully Crafted and Diligently Maintained” to-do list.
For me, “Carefully Crafted” doesn’t work. Making a list is already a logical and structured task. It’s already left brained. If I have to be left brained then I’m going to do so in such a way that it becomes totally artistic and right brained so both of my halves can be happy.
That’s the compromise I have found to keep inner peace and balance. So that’s what I’m going to stick with.