Tips for Tackling New Year’s Tasks

By Elena Shimanek
Edmond Family Counseling
Now that we have finished our holiday celebrations, it is our turn to make our list (feel free to check them twice.) That’s right, I’m talking about: The To-Do List. As we finish up the busiest season of the year, we come to realize that there is still more to be done. It can be overwhelming dealing with a never-ending list of responsibilities when you already feel drained. How can we help ourselves deal with the stress of constantly managing tasks?
- Create a schedule: It is quite difficult to form a habit, but once it’s done it’s even harder to break it! As you create a schedule and adhere to it, it will require less effort to start each time. Feeling late and disorganized creates feelings of stress and anxiety. By scheduling a set time for everything, you give yourself a starting point to commit to and it will feel less overwhelming when the task appears. It also allows you to select the times you know you have more energy; are you an early bird or a night owl? When we specifically take actions to combat stress and anxiety, we remind our brains that we are, in fact, in charge of our actions and our environment.
- Give yourself a physical to-do list: Having the physical list also gives us the opportunity to prioritize tasks appropriately. It’s been frequently observed that worried and anxious thoughts make the problem appear worse, and by writing a physical list down of what we need to accomplish we give ourselves a more realistic visual aid of what must be completed. As you cross items off the list, you can physically see the results of your work. This will release happy chemicals in our brains, primarily dopamine, which in turn teaches our brains completing difficult tasks makes us feel good! I also suggest if you did something that wasn’t on the to-do list initially, write that down and cross it off. Often, we don’t give ourselves due credit for all the things we manage to do in a day.
- Identify a reward for yourself: We must find motivation for our tasks and this motivation may come in an intrinsic or extrinsic form. Intrinsic motivation is that which comes from within us: You finish a book because you love reading. You clean your home because tidying up relieves stress. Extrinsic motivation involves an external motivator. It could be finding a specific reward for yourself, or you have visitors on the way for which you need to prepare! Either way, identifying what drives you will offer an expected benefit in your mind and will help motivate you. Examples for planning a reward may be: if I complete 2 tasks, I’m going to watch a movie. When I finish organizing the garage, I’m going to go shopping for a new outfit. This habit also teaches our brain that we should accomplish things before our rewards.
- Change your view on stress: The feeling of stress isn’t really our bodies bogging us down to stop, it’s our brain sending physiological signals to various areas of our body to help prepare us to take care of business. Granted, our business is no longer running away from bears or hunting a herd of buffalo, but it still requires mental and physical energy to get things done, and we need our brain to continue “stressing” us so we can rise to the challenge. When you feel your body physically react to your to-do list, instead of sitting down and succumbing to it, ride the wave of the feeling and go get started. A rough draft is more helpful to the end goal than nothing at all.
- Forgive yourself for having procrastinated: As important as it is to get things done, it’s also important to care for ourselves, so we can bring our best to the task table. Just like machines need to be oiled, fueled, and turned off to prevent overheating, our bodies need maintenance and rest. Perhaps you can put some rest time for each evening or weekend on your schedule, so you have something habitual to look forward to. Also try to introduce more positive thinking. When you have a day with less done, instead of telling yourself you’ve been lazy, consider that you may have needed the break and embrace the relaxation to start off better the next day.
The most important thing you can do is utilize what works for you after you’ve taken some time to test out different strategies. We all have our own strengths and weaknesses, goals and values, and physiological responses to our environment. It’s simple to look at a list and make selections, but the key is to implement and be flexible until you find the ways that work for you and help you to achieve your goals and tackle that to-do list.
Elena Shimanek, M.A., LPC-C is a staff therapist at Edmond Family Counseling. Edmond Family Counseling is a non-profit organization. We may be reached at 405-341-3554 to schedule an appointment with one of our licensed professional counselors. Donations may be made to Edmond Family Counseling, 1251 N. Broadway, Edmond, OK 73034, or online @ www.edmondfamily.org by clicking the YELLOW DONATE button. Follow us on our Facebook Page @ Edmond Family Counseling for additional information regarding mental health awareness.