I’ve sometimes struggled with some pretty basic tasks. For instance, maybe I’ve run the dishwasher but didn’t put the dishes away until days later. This can lead to a vicious cycle of guilt. I intended to finish the task sooner, but feel bad because that didn’t happen 😔. Furthermore, I beat myself up for being unable to accomplish something so simple. And that can lead to demotivation which makes it more difficult to start other simple tasks.
A relevant insight I learned from Atomic Habits by James Clear is that you aren’t the problem. It’s that you have the wrong system.
The Two Fundamental Habits
I’ve discovered two fundamental habits. Once these two habits are established, it’s much easier to complete your tasks and adopt new habits. The two fundamental habits are:
- Put everything in a To Do app
- Regularly check the To Do app
Nothing is too small
A huge mistake I’ve made in the past is dismissing using a To Do app for simple things. Is it worth the overhead of adding an item to “empty the dishwasher”? Yes! Cause it’s too easy to forget about it later.
And really, if you add an ambiguous large task, that increases the chances that you won’t do it. So not only is nothing too small, small is the ideal size for all tasks.
Free your mind
It’s surprising how much head space remembering random tasks can take up. There’s that background worry that you’re forgetting something. That becomes a pretty big mental burden. And because of that you have less energy to devote to the tasks themselves.
I also worried using a To Do app would make my home life feel like work. But without a system, you end up putting in much more effort to accomplish less. The point of establishing a system is efficiency. Spend less time on the mundane tasks you need to get done so you have more time for the things that truly give you joy.
The only thing to remember is to use your To Do app
We all have wakeup routines. This is a great time to open the To Do app and identify the one must do item of the day.
Throughout the day you often have short lulls of time. The temptation is to open Instagram. It’s much more virtuous if your habit is to open the To Do app. Perhaps establish a rule. You are allowed to scroll through Instagram for 5 minutes only after you finish one of your tasks.
Which App?
Remember that the best app is the one you use. So start with whatever is already present on the phone like Apple Reminders. I outgrew that app and have been very satisifed with Todoist