Just Write Communications
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • News
  • Clients
  • Testimonials
  • Writing Tips
  • Weekly Chuckle
  • Meals We Steal
  • Bad Golf

Shredding the "To Do" List

10/8/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
​There’s a cleansing feeling when you shred your “to do” list. It’s purging your insides.
 
All week long you hammer away.
 
“Remember to pick up groceries on drive home.”
 
“Send report to Bamberger by COB Wednesday.”

“Get cash for weekend.”
 
“Make lunch reservation with Epstein.”
 
“Pick up beer.”


Take the list, head down to the shredder. Slip the notes in one by one. Listen to that marvelous grinding sound as they get chewed up. All your deadlines are gone. You accomplished something by getting all those chores -- work and home – accomplished. Now you can sigh and start filling up your brain again.

Despite knowing you will have much more to do in the coming week, there is something cathartic about watching and hearing the paper cut into tiny pieces. I think part of the gut wonderful feeling is seeing the paper being swallowed by the machine. It’s going away. So are all those things you meant to do this week. You accomplished something. That makes you feel good.
 
A couple of weeks ago, I had an extra busy week. You could feel pressure driven by external demands, which resulted in me writing many “to do’s” down. It seemed like an avalanche pouring down from high on a mountain, rumbling towards my brain.

When you have a day or week like that, unless you jot down what needs to get done, your brain jumbles up. You don’t accomplish anything. It’s much easier to sit and feel the chaos generated around you. “Honey, what did you do today,” your spouse poses to you when you return home.


“Uh, I don’t remember. I forgot to write it down.”
 
Chances are you will forget. And not just because you didn’t write it down. Churn causes forgetfulness.
 
Years ago, my editor put yellow sticky notes on her desk on a daily basis. I remember walking in to hand her copy for our newsletter and seeing a long scribbled list. Certain items were crossed off. Others were written with large exclamation points at the end for greater emphasis or the words were put in ALL CAPS.
 
She didn’t have a shredder, so she was a master of crumbling it up and tossing it in the garbage can at the end of the day (or week). I doubt she got quite as much pleasure as there is when you shred, but I could see the feeling of joy on her face watching the yellow notepad paper being scrunched up and thrown. There’s probably a similar sense of finishing the job off and finality from that routine.
 
Now though we get the hum of the shredder. We hear the buzz. We watch its jaws clutch the paper and slowly feed it to its death.
 
After all the notes are slipped into its clutches, you’re done. Go home. Eat dinner. Read a book. Watch TV. Take a bike ride. Go for a walk. Play pickup basketball. Enjoy your dogs. Let the deadlines and chores go.

Because they’re back the next day or after the weekend and you have to begin making lists again. Remember that you’ve got that shredder waiting at the end of the line though when you call it quits. It will give you little extra something to look forward to.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013

    Categories

    All

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.