Published on 12, July, 2020
Like many other days I feel today I could have done so much more. The only thing of note I did today was make boiled brown rice and cabbage with toasted pecan nuts, served with freshly chopped parsley.
Otherwise I've done nothing memorable today. Didn't have the drive in me to read a book, watch a film, pick up the guitar and learn more - that's it.
I went through this for a chunk of last year. I bought a whiteboard and started making daily lists - especially for my days off, I'd put a mix of things I had to do and things I wanted to do, working out how much I thought I could achieve that day depending what time I woke up and how long things would take. It's amazing how much having a visual list helps - it clears your mind from trying to remember those things, for a start, then there's the satisfaction of ticking things off when they're done. I also have a column to add useful tasks I hadn't planned to do, whether these cropped up during the day or were things I was going to do in the future but got on with early. Some days this list is longer than the initial one, and most days the first list doesn't get finished, but I find I do much more of it that I would have otherwise.
The next morning I review the list, remind myself how much I achieved the day before (often more than it felt I did, ALWAYS more than I remember doing) and, here's the best part - wipe it clean! So anything I didn't get around to isn't hanging over my head like a running to-do list. If a task is time-limited I may add it again to the next day, though I try to do those things first so I don't have to carry them over.
This won't work for everyone of course though for me I found that the structure, combined with not having to rely on my extremely unpredictable memory, was enough to motivate me to be much more productive with my time. Remember though that the odd lazy day to recharge is not a bad thing, but I know how horrible it is when you're repeatedly unable to do the things that you know will make you feel better. I hope you find a way to kick yourself out of this soon.
I might try getting a blackboard and chalk and doing that. Thanks for sharing.
No worries, hope it works for you. :)