"Too often, a "to do" list with me is just an ongoing memory dump, and I don't ever get a feeling of satisfaction."

Me too!
Which is why I no longer have a to do list.
Instead I have a "Ta Da!" list... I write in my calendar all the things I did that day... much more satisfying!

I agree about focusing your thinking. Sometimes my MIT is something I don't want to do, like go to the grocery. So l'll do everything but. But when I make myself see it as a truly MIT, I can buck up, go, and bask in all my lovely good things to eat and mostly can say I don't have to go again for a week.

My Mom was a big writer of lists. Often her to-do lists would include easy stuff she would do anyway "Take Shower", "Go To Store". She also wrote down her dinner menu every single day of her life. I'd tease her because she spelled one vegetable "Carrottes".

This is a great article - thanks for sharing! I will piddle the day away to avoid doing something I really don't want to do. Then I finally do it and it takes 15 minutes. I like the rule of doing it first thing in the morning. GET IT DONE and get on with the day!

THANKS again!

I find through the week I like to set the task of making sure the recycling bin is totally full on collection day (for me Wed. morning). Even if I don't get stuff done, by Tuesday I really focus on getting that bin full. Our's is a really large container with wheels, about 4 feet tall. With such a large recycle bin, we have been able to downsize the garbage collection can which saves us money. But lately I have realized that the garbage can is usually only 1/2 full on collection day. So I have added making sure that bin is also full.

mommabird - it's kind of funny but I too will avoid a task by doing other things. Ironically, those are some of my most productive days when I look at my house as a whole.

Great idea!! Thanks

I have a suggestion regarding garbage bins. We have our garbage picked up twice a week. We started with one garbage can, as our family grew from 2 to 4 we added a third can. I had noticed our house getting cluttered and producing even more trash. If I did a good clean-up, I didn't have enough space with only 2 garbage cans. So we bought a third. As the years went by, hubby and I retired, kids went off to college and their own apartments, and we started to actively recycle garbage- putting a compost pile in for our vegetable garbage, sorting out and recycling plastics (even plastic bags), metal, glass, newspapers and cardboard. Now it's just two of us and we barely fill one can each garbage day. But it's nice having a couple of "spares" in case I go on a gigantic cleaning and toss-out binge (or not).

Re the memory dump - someone I know writes her to-dos individually on sticky notes and then creates her to-do list by selecting the items and sticking them to a piece of paper that's the day's to-do list. The reality is that she wouldn't accomplish all the items on the list, but at least there was no re-writing the list day after day with all those things.

MIT is amazing. Yes, if I just focused on a single task or maybe two each day and completed them, I would be far ahead of where I am now. The blog has many resources for rethinking time management. Thank you for posting this information.