Todoist or NotTodoist

Todoist tells me I am a Grand Master.

Do you have a life-affirming app like that? Are you so lucky?

Apparently, I have completed 5,581 tasks over the last two or so years. Todoist says I am one level away from Enlightenment.

Enlightenment! Ha!

The question is, when I am enlightened, will I no longer need Todoist? Will I wake up a free spirit, each morning thinking, “Hello, Day! What should we do together?”

Instead, I often awaken at 4:30 am thinking about a PowerPoint or agenda I have to create before my meetings start at 8:00.

I'll admit it. I am an achiever. I like getting things done. So, I find some satisfaction in checking off my to-dos. But the best part about having an app to track my to-do list is that I can’t remember anything otherwise. So, the minute I think of something I need to do, I add it to Todoist.

It acts as a booster for one of the most valuable parts of my brain.

It has cool features to prioritize, categorize, and sort. I can quickly look at not just what is on my plate for the day, but easily search for proposals, contracts, meeting prep, or personal tasks that are on my list.

This week, however, Todoist told me, “You are not on a streak.”

No kidding, Todoist. I know that.

Apparently, if I look at the Productivity tab (which I don't recommend as a general rule), my longest streak was 50 days: From February 10 to April 4, 2021.

Um, yeah, Todoist. That’s because I couldn’t leave my house. It was just me and my to do list holed up in a pandemic.

Was that your most productive time too, ever?

And what is on your to-do list today? Is it longer than it wants to be?

I love to be busy. I always have a lot on my plate. I often struggle with the sense that I'm behind. But I also recognize that this thought that I'm always behind is a limiting belief—it's a thought that does not serve me.

This is one thought I want to let go of. Because it's hard to be peaceful if you always feel behind. So, instead, I want to practice thinking, “What’s next? What's the next right thing?”

And then just do that.

I do have a trick I use when I have too many things on my list, and I really don’t want to do any of them: I roll the dice. I literally have a pair of dice on my desk, and I roll one or two of them and whatever number shows up is the item on my list I have to do first.

It works brilliantly. It removes any human intervention or procrastination: that thought that “I don’t feel like doing this" or "I don’t want to do that.” Instead, the universe tells me what I should do first.

And I do it. And I feel good.

(Note: Sometimes I do negotiate with that universe, and say, "Well, I can't really do that one right now. So, I'll roll again. But most of the time, I stick to it.)

When coaching, I help people identify their personal values and we talk about how those values impact their work; how they show up in their day-to-day lives. In my case, it's super clear. My #1 value is justice, #2 is compassion, and #3 is productivity.

So, working frenetically to support non-profits expanding their impact in the world—well, it’s a sweet jam for me.

Until I don't need to have an income stream and can have a looser, more carefree approach, I'm in this. I’m rolling the dice more frequently than maybe I would have to otherwise. But me and my Todoist are getting it done.