[EP 127] ToDo Lists Don't Keep You Organized. Here's What Will...
episode
Balance It Method Podcast | Routines, Organization and Time Management for Busy Working Moms
11 min
8 chapters
transcribed 1 month ago
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Why does a traditional to‑do list fail busy working moms?
If your to-do list is never getting finished, then you do not have a discipline problem, my friend. You have a design problem. In this episode today, we're gonna talk about why traditional to-do lists were never built for the reality that a working mom is living day in and day out, and what we can do instead. Welcome to the Balance It Method Podcast. If you're a working mom juggling a career, kids, housework, a social life, and endless piles of laundry, then you are in the right place, my friend. I'm Tamara, a mom, business owner, and your balanced living bestie. Each week we will discuss simple, practical ways to better manage your time and energy so you can get things checked off that to do list without burning yourself out in the process.
If you're ready to take off that busy badge of honor and finally take control over life's chaos, then let's take this journey together as we learn how to balance it. Hello my friends and welcome back to another episode of the Balance It Method podcast. I'm your host, Tamara, and today we're getting into something on the show that I know every single one of you has felt, but maybe you didn't know what you were doing wrong. So let me paint this picture for you and you tell me if it sounds familiar. You have a lot to do, right? You're a busy mom, you got a job to take care of, you got a house to take care of, you got kids to take care of, you got multiple schedules that you're trying to jump. Juggle. And so you sit down and you make a list of all the things that you need to do.
How does a design problem differ from a discipline problem in productivity?
Maybe you make that list every morning to keep yourself organized, or maybe you make that list once a week. Either way, whenever you sit down to make another list, you're rewriting some of those tasks from the previous list that you didn't get done or that need done so frequently that that you have to write them down every single time. And the thing about the to-do list is once you check something off of it, usually there's something else that needs to be added onto it. So it literally never ends. So here's something that I tell the students inside the Balance It Method program. We do not write to-do lists. You're done writing to-do lists. And people look at me with a side eye and like, how do I stay organized if I don't write a to-do list?
Well, let me ask you, my friends, when is the last time a to-do list has ever organized your life? That's not what it does. A plan organizes your life. A list is not a plan. A list is just a list. It's just a long list of things that you want to do. It's a glorified brain dump of tasks with zero consideration for how those tasks are going to fit into your actual life.
What’s the hidden cost of constantly rewriting the same to‑do items?
It doesn't know that you have school pickup at 315 every day. It doesn't know that Tuesday nights are chaos because you have soccer practice. It doesn't know that you've already got a mental list a mile long of things that are just baked into your daily life. The things that that you're already automatically doing that you didn't even bother to write down because why would you write them down? They just happen. Think about that for a second. How many of the tasks of the things that you do every day? never make it on to your to-do list, like making breakfast, showering, uh, maybe even doing the dishes or responding to the school emails. reminding your partner yet again about the thing that you already reminded them about three times last week.
None of that is on a list, but all of that is taking up time and mental energy for you. So when you sit down and you write a to-do list, what you're actually writing is a partial picture of your week. You're looking at the extra stuff that stands out, right? Like that you need to clean the bathroom, that you need to get caught up on the laundry. And you're pretending that the rest of your day is like a blank slate, like you have all this time available to be able to do it because you wrote it on the list, or because you wrote it on the list you're going to get it done.
Why is a list not a plan, and how does that impact daily life?
And the thing is, even if you have a Saturday where you don't have very many responsibilities, there are things that you still have to do every Saturday, every weekend, regardless of whether you're out doing things, you know, like traveling with the family or
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why does a traditional to‑do list fail busy working moms?
0:00–1:28
2
How does a design problem differ from a discipline problem in productivity?
1:28–2:43
3
What’s the hidden cost of constantly rewriting the same to‑do items?
2:43–4:05
4
Why is a list not a plan, and how does that impact daily life?
4:05–5:55
5
How can you identify recurring tasks that belong in a system?
5:55–7:23
6
What does a simple, repeatable system for meal planning look like?
7:23–9:03
7
How does moving repetitive tasks into systems cut your to‑do list in half?
9:03–10:16
8
Where can listeners get a free workshop to start building their own weekly system?
10:16–11:29
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