To-Do-Listing Your Life Away // Guest Post by Kellyn Roth

Today I bring you a guest post that hits pretty close to home for me. I'm not the only writer who makes, to-do lists right? Let's see what Kellyn has to say on the subject!

Today I’m going to be talking about To-Do Lists.

I know you’re either rolling your eyes or hiding your notebooks behind your back. I’ve noticed that a lot of people think to-do lists are dumb or nerdy. Well … that’s okay. Go live in your non-accomplishments and be non-accomplished. ;)

But … many of you do write to-do lists.

It doesn’t make you overly-organized. It doesn’t make you boring and predictable. If it helps you get things done, then why not? Who cares what other people think. Getting things done is important. God didn’t make us to sit around on the couch all day and not accomplish anything! He made us to get up and move!

However … there are some dangers to these beautiful little lists.

I spend a lot of time writing to-do lists. Generally, while my mother’s reading to us in the morning (I’m homeschooled), I’ll start my to-do list for the day (either that or scribble my name over and over again in my notebook; that happens much more often, to be honest).

My average list will contain things like this:

1. School
2. Chores
3. Instrument practice
4. Exercise (P.E.)
5. Write a chapter of Adae

I can definitely do all those things in one day (have to, in the case of everything but writing)! I’ll probably have some time to actually live after that. But ... the thing is … I don’t stop there. I keep going. And going. And going.

Before I know it, I have a solid page of “things I want to do today” … and you know what? It’s not feasible for me to do so. I sometimes end up using every moment of my day worrying about all the things I have to do. And nothing that actually needs to get done gets done. And I’m constantly stressed.

Now, like I said, nothing wrong with to-do lists or planning. And I’m not one to judge if you’ve got a lot of your plate. However, being worried doesn’t solve anything.

I mean, I’m not usually one of those people who likes to go on about how you should stop worrying and just be happy, but … the more I worry about all the things I have to do, the less things actually get done.

So … what’s the answer? To-do lists can be a help … but they can also be a hinder! What’s the healthy balance? How do you even find the healthy balance? Here’s my answer.

Limit yourself.

“Today, I am only doing three things. When I do those three things, I’m done. I will rest. I will read (for fun!). I will concentrate on God, on real life, on whatever I need to relax.”

For me, that’s hard. I mean, I tend to relax too much already (at least in my way of thinking), and I feel like I accomplish so little! But, really. Here are some tips.

Evaluate the things you need to “accomplish.”

• Do you really need to finish that chapter today?
• If you don’t write that blog post, is it the end of the world?
• How much of your time is taken up by mindless social media?
• What really is a priority … and what is something that just doesn’t matter?
• How can you do less (instead of how can you do more)?

Kellyn Roth is a Historical & Christian fiction author from North-Eastern Oregon. She lives in the country with her parents, little brothers, adorkable border collies, and psychotic cat. When not writing, reading, or blogging, she has a life, although it’s become somewhat of a minor hobby.

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I thought Kellyn made some excellent points! How do you find the balance between stressing yourself into inactivity and spending all day on the couch? Are you a to-do list person?