How My To-Do List Was Making Me Fail

For quite some time, my to-do list has been in direct conflict with my season of life. And that’s a conflict in which there are no winners. I knew I needed to do something radically different in order to restore the peace and joy in my family. This is what I’m doing to turn the crazy train around, and how I’m learning that I can actually accomplish more by doing less.

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For the past several weeks (maybe even months), I’ve been struggling with impatience, weariness, and frustration with my lack of productivity in certain areas. I want to get more done, I plan to get more done, I’m willing to put in the work to get more done … but I just haven’t been able to get as much accomplished as I would like.

There are a couple of reasons for this. And their names are Aidan and Andrew. 😉

I am smack dab in the season of little ones, as my boys are 3 and 1. And little ones come with big needs. And lots of them. But I continue to construct a to-do list as if they don’t.

And that refusal to accept the reality of my season is a recipe for a lot of frustration. On my part, and on theirs. And I was feeling myself start to slide down that slippery slope again of seeing my kids as interfering with my responsibilities rather than being my ultimate responsibility right now.

I knew something needed to change, and I needed to get my perspective and my priorities back on track. (This is something I’ve had to do before, which I talked about in this post.)

Part of the problem was that I was forgetting that while my responsibilities to my job, my husband, and our home are important … so are my responsibilities to my kids.

The daily work of meeting basic needs, building their relationship with me and with each other, and investing in their emotional and spiritual growth is just as important (if not more important) as any other work I do.

It’s just a lot less glamorous. And the fruits of my labor are often less obvious and less immediate, making it difficult to see the value in it.

So valuing and prioritizing those seemingly mundane, but necessary, tasks is still a work-in-progress. I think it always will be.

But my other problem was that I was simply trying to do too much. Because I was basing the value of my day on the length of my to-do list, I was filling it with way too many things. And I felt very defeated, and almost panicky, when I didn’t get them all done, which was taking a serious toll on my attitude and my relationship with my family.

So a few weeks ago, I took a step I should have taken a long time ago. A step that is helping me set up, organize, and prioritize my day. I finally took Crystal Paine’s Make Over Your Mornings course. And it was exactly the kind of catalyst for change that I needed.

What is Make Over Your Mornings?

Last year I wrote about how Crystal’s Make Over Your Evenings course helped me restore some balance to my evenings yet still work towards my goals. This year I decided it was well past time to make over my mornings, as well.

Make Over Your Mornings is a 14-day online course from Crystal Paine of moneysavingmom.com. Each day consists of a 5-minute video, a short workbook reading, and a few practical projects to put it all into action.

It is designed to “help you revolutionize your productivity, streamline your routines, invest your time in things that truly matter, and find more joy and peace in the process.”

And fresh off the course, I am already seeing proof of those promises.

What Did I Get Out Of It?

The first few days were a bit of an echo from my MOYE course, but they were important concepts that you can’t ever hear too often. Lessons like how to set up your day the night before, and putting the big rocks in first.

By Day 5, however, this was a course all its own. That is the day that taught me how to set goals. Day 6 taught me how to accomplish those goals in even the busiest season of motherhood.

But my favorite day, by far, was Day 8: Creating a To-Do List That Serves, Not Strangles. This is the day that I so desperately needed. It was during this stage of the course that I realized that I was trying to cram too much into my day. My to-do list was regularly conflicting with my situation and season. And there were no winners.

I still have more to do with this course — I’ve completed all the videos and readings, but I need to give a few of the projects the time they deserve — but it has already left its mark. It has caused me to stop the crazy train, rethink what I want my days to be about, and move forward in a new and better direction.

Would I Recommend It?

Absolutely. Not only is it extremely helpful, in an inspiring AND practical way, but it is short enough to fit in a mom’s schedule and affordable enough to fit in a mom’s budget. This is definitely a course with a mom’s needs in mind.

Do I expect my mornings or my days to be perfect now that I’ve taken the course? Of course not. I’m not saying it’s a magic bullet for instant smooth sailing. But I can already see how the course has changed me — heart first, habits second — and I am excited to see what happens as I put the lessons I’ve learned into further practice.

If your mornings are frenzied and hectic, if you spend most of the day running in circles, or if your to-list controls you more than you control it, I would highly encourage you to take this course.

For less than a meal out, you can put some peace, joy, and intention back into your day. I don’t know about you, but that was something I desperately needed.

Learn more about the course by clicking the link below: