Come on ladies, we CANNOT continue to keep mom to do lists in our heads. The mental overwhelm of trying to keep track of everything is holding us back. I also don’t want long to do lists sitting around because they never get done. We are going to re-frame the list and make it useful.

Where to start with the mental mom to do list?

Take some time over the next day or weeks (10 minutes at a time) to write down all of the things you need to do. Some will be daily things like the dishes and some could be yearly things like filing taxes or one time projects. The list needs to include must do, would be nice to do, and really want to dos.

Now what? I feel overwhelmed!

Yup. You do a lot in your life and have even bigger dreams. There are some things on the list that you know are non-negotiable. You need to eat, sleep, and use the bathroom. We are going to break the list up into categories. Must do, want to do, Suzie thinks I should. Suzie is my friend who really has her stuff together and is at a new phase of life. I value her opinion and want to do her ideas (they are always worth it) but I can only handle one at a time.

I’m not sure that helped. There is so much to do.

I get it. There is still so much on our plates. Now its time to decide one category at a time which tasks on our mom to-do list will be daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or one time events. Take your time and really think how often do I actually do this, how often do I feel this should be done, how long could it sit untouched without becoming an added stressors. What we are left with is a fantastic list with a very wide range of timelines to accomplish tasks.

A fun step in the new list

Decide which tasks actually need to be accomplished by you and which ones you can be satisfied just knowing they are done. If you look at your list and decide all of the items need to be completed by you then put this task aside and do a little reflection. Do you feel as though you have nobody that would do it or that nobody can do it as well as you.

Outsourcing the mom to-do list

Everyone in the house gets to help complete the mom to-do list. I am not the type of person who is comfortable asking for help. I have absolutely moved all of the furniture out of my house by myself. All too often we take on more than needed and the people in our household don’t even know what help we need. Especially when they see us just handling it. Our children benefit from knowing how to tidy a house or manage their own routines.

10 minute systems

If a system takes much longer than 10 minutes it gets hard to plan to complete it or complete it once started. All tasks on your daily list should be completed withing a daily system that happens at a specific time or trigger. This is where morning and night time routines come in. Weekly tasks will be separated by days of the week but for now we aren’t stressing about making a full plan. We are getting the information out of our heads and onto paper in a way we can use it.

What about tasks that take longer than 10 minutes?

When a task takes longer than 10 minutes we are going to call it a project. Projects get special handling because they often need extra time, resources, and support. Sometimes a project can be completed independently without many extra resources 10 minutes at a time. Think cleaning the cupboards in the kitchen. You can complete this over a period of time tackling one cupboard in 10 minutes. Versus cleaning the gutters where you may need special tools and another person to make sure it is completed safely.

These are the important details we consider when ending the mental mom to do list. Making a usable list will define our expectations and limitations. This will help us to know when to ask for help and where a new system will support our lifestyle.