To Do or Not to Do
by Jean West Rudnicki
I’ve always had one simple life goal – to be an organized, productive individual. When I worked full-time, it was easy to be productive. There was no time to worry about organizing anything. I simply tackled one task after another getting the important things done and letting the less important things slip to the bottom of the list. Nowadays in retirement, everything slips to the bottom of the list.
So, I have apps to help. Yes. Not one, but two apps, which are designed to help me stay on top of my to-do list and to work those tasks into my daily schedule. My favorite app, Any.do, dutifully reminds me each morning via an alert that it is time to plan my day. With its notification comes several options. I can select Done if I am ahead of the game and the day’s tasks are already listed – a rarity. I can select Snooze if it’s not an optimum time for planning, in which case it then gives me a selection of choices for how long I want to “snooze” – from 15 minutes up to an hour. Or I can select Dismiss, which silences the app for the remainder of the day. Since I am usually deeply engrossed reviewing my Facebook feed when the alert arrives, I select Snooze, along with the One-Hour option. Then faithfully, one hour later, the app’s notification reappears with the same options. By this time, though, I’m thoroughly annoyed by its relentless nagging, so I hit Dismiss, putting it to rest. Then I can scratch off at least one item from my yet-to-be-composed list. Sadly, it appears my Any.do app has morphed into Anything but Do.
I have calendars to help me stay abreast of my schedule. I love calendars. I buy lots of calendars - scenic ones, wildlife ones, serenity and mindfulness ones. I even have a healthy food one. What I don’t have is any place to hang them. I usually stick one up on the kitchen wall for quick reference and stash the remainder amid towering piles and assorted stacks of long-neglected mail (the clean-up of which remains at the very bottom of my list). I use my cell phone’s calendar, which has no photos, no inspiring words and no mouthwatering displays of kale salad, to track appointments, meetings, workouts, deadlines, etc.
I confess I’m envious of people with those amazing, color-coded planners that are plastered with shiny stars and hearts and smiley faces. That is what I have always secretly longed for. Last November the get-organized bug bit me hard. I couldn’t wait for any New Year, New You rhetoric. I wanted to seize the day and act immediately. Have you ever tried to find a current year planner in November? I was too embarrassed to ask a clerk where they might be, but on my second trip to the mega office supply store, I stumbled upon three located in the far back corner, bottom shelf, and deeply discounted.
Ecstatic, I tossed the planner in the cart along with a box of 24 “Bright Bold” colored pencils, a couple of erasers and a pencil sharpener. The planner came with its own supply of gold stars and hearts. The cover read, “Strategic Planner and Daily Agenda for living a well-designed life.” At last, I was on my way.
With my new planner before me and my pencils at the ready, I flipped open to November. Staring at the pristine page with its To-Do column, along with Today’s Schedule and Today’s Top Three, I froze. Page fright seized me. My mind went blank, while my heart raced and my anxiety level soared. How to begin? What tasks merited mention? What colors to use for what? What if I changed my mind? I took a deep breath, closed the planner and put the pencils back in the box. Perhaps the well-designed life wasn’t for me after all.
Upon reflection, I’ve decided I like my sister’s approach better. It’s much more positive, and guilt-free. Instead of creating to-do lists and fretting about scratching things off, she simply fills her calendar with did-do’s. She includes the things she thinks she wants to do, but if it turns out that she didn’t do, she just removes it. Simple. Uncomplicated. Stress-free. Isn’t that what retirement is all about?
Back to Jean's Page
Copyright © 2019 All rights reserved. Can not be reproduced or used without written permission.
by Jean West Rudnicki
I’ve always had one simple life goal – to be an organized, productive individual. When I worked full-time, it was easy to be productive. There was no time to worry about organizing anything. I simply tackled one task after another getting the important things done and letting the less important things slip to the bottom of the list. Nowadays in retirement, everything slips to the bottom of the list.
So, I have apps to help. Yes. Not one, but two apps, which are designed to help me stay on top of my to-do list and to work those tasks into my daily schedule. My favorite app, Any.do, dutifully reminds me each morning via an alert that it is time to plan my day. With its notification comes several options. I can select Done if I am ahead of the game and the day’s tasks are already listed – a rarity. I can select Snooze if it’s not an optimum time for planning, in which case it then gives me a selection of choices for how long I want to “snooze” – from 15 minutes up to an hour. Or I can select Dismiss, which silences the app for the remainder of the day. Since I am usually deeply engrossed reviewing my Facebook feed when the alert arrives, I select Snooze, along with the One-Hour option. Then faithfully, one hour later, the app’s notification reappears with the same options. By this time, though, I’m thoroughly annoyed by its relentless nagging, so I hit Dismiss, putting it to rest. Then I can scratch off at least one item from my yet-to-be-composed list. Sadly, it appears my Any.do app has morphed into Anything but Do.
I have calendars to help me stay abreast of my schedule. I love calendars. I buy lots of calendars - scenic ones, wildlife ones, serenity and mindfulness ones. I even have a healthy food one. What I don’t have is any place to hang them. I usually stick one up on the kitchen wall for quick reference and stash the remainder amid towering piles and assorted stacks of long-neglected mail (the clean-up of which remains at the very bottom of my list). I use my cell phone’s calendar, which has no photos, no inspiring words and no mouthwatering displays of kale salad, to track appointments, meetings, workouts, deadlines, etc.
I confess I’m envious of people with those amazing, color-coded planners that are plastered with shiny stars and hearts and smiley faces. That is what I have always secretly longed for. Last November the get-organized bug bit me hard. I couldn’t wait for any New Year, New You rhetoric. I wanted to seize the day and act immediately. Have you ever tried to find a current year planner in November? I was too embarrassed to ask a clerk where they might be, but on my second trip to the mega office supply store, I stumbled upon three located in the far back corner, bottom shelf, and deeply discounted.
Ecstatic, I tossed the planner in the cart along with a box of 24 “Bright Bold” colored pencils, a couple of erasers and a pencil sharpener. The planner came with its own supply of gold stars and hearts. The cover read, “Strategic Planner and Daily Agenda for living a well-designed life.” At last, I was on my way.
With my new planner before me and my pencils at the ready, I flipped open to November. Staring at the pristine page with its To-Do column, along with Today’s Schedule and Today’s Top Three, I froze. Page fright seized me. My mind went blank, while my heart raced and my anxiety level soared. How to begin? What tasks merited mention? What colors to use for what? What if I changed my mind? I took a deep breath, closed the planner and put the pencils back in the box. Perhaps the well-designed life wasn’t for me after all.
Upon reflection, I’ve decided I like my sister’s approach better. It’s much more positive, and guilt-free. Instead of creating to-do lists and fretting about scratching things off, she simply fills her calendar with did-do’s. She includes the things she thinks she wants to do, but if it turns out that she didn’t do, she just removes it. Simple. Uncomplicated. Stress-free. Isn’t that what retirement is all about?
Back to Jean's Page
Copyright © 2019 All rights reserved. Can not be reproduced or used without written permission.