Last month we spoke with Kristin Maschka of Remodeling Motherhood on the TelePARTY. Kristen discussed how mothers over the last 100 years have slowly acquired more and more responsibility that has led to the “Mother of All To Do lists.”
What I have found while working with clients is that each of us creates our own personal version of the “Mother of All To Do lists” over our own lifetimes. Once we become mothers that list naturally expands at lightening speed.
When I speak with clients, what I often hear is “I’m overwhelmed and I really don’t know why.” The client then tells me all the reasons she should be able to handle her tasks. Usually, she also throws in some “I-should-be-grateful-for-all-I-have” comments as well. (Notice that now not only does the person feel overwhelmed, but now she also feels guilty for being overwhelmed.)
I used to do the same thing until I realized a few secret tricks to unhinge all that guilt and overwhelm. I shared them with our members on our monthly group call on Tuesday.
Although I couldn’t give you the whole kit and kaboodle in this one post, I will give you my favorite trick right here:
Write down your entire task list.
That’s it?
Yup – that’s it!
I’ll warn you it is not as easy as you think. So I’ve created a 30 day challenge to really get your full list down on paper.
For the next 30 days, I want you to write a complete list of every single thing you are holding over your own head AND the list must be at least 1000 items before you stop!
You heard me – 1000!
I have yet to find a client who could not complete this assignment – and most didn’t stop at 1000.
But to help get you started, I’ll give you hints. Include in the list all the “wrongs” you’ve done that you need to make right. You can also include all the things you are not yet doing but think you need to do “some day.” Write down everything – including the mundane, tedious and obvious tasks like – Get my son to school, pick him up, make sure he brushes his teeth, brush my teeth, somehow find that girl I was mean to in eighth grade and apologize to her for making her cry…
When you see how much you are holding over your own head, the overwhelm won’t seem so confusing. And when the overwhelm starts to make sense, the guilt will go away. And when you free up all the mental space you were taking up with your massive task list, along with all the guilt and overwhelm…
You’ll actually start to get some stuff done and realize you are a freakin’ Rock Star in the process!
Fill me in on how it’s going!
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