Checklists
January Week 2: The Follow Up
One week in and I already feel I am in over my head with this blog. I didn’t anticipate how much work a blog would be, not to mention the actual writing part is more difficult than I expected. Throughout my week I find myself to be quite scatterbrained, which often prompts my wife to ask me where I am inside my own head (this is usually in response to me not doing something she asked me to, or worse, not hearing what she asked me to do). To help keep me on track, I set myself a checklist of things I need to do throughout my day. When and how I do it are up to me, but regardless it needs to be done by the end of day. This checklist involves house work or errands that need to be done, and these items get checked off pretty quickly, in large part because it helps meet the basic necessities of day to day living. Here is an example of what a weekly checklist would look like:
Items like taking out the garbage, watering the plants, putting together an IKEA cabinet, or picking up some last minute groceries for guests coming over are all tasks that I enjoy doing, and their gratification is quite instant. When these tasks get done I feel accomplished and I feel that I have contributed to the well-being of my household. However, when it comes to goals involving my aspirations in music, it’s a different story. I’m not talking about means of making money such as gigging, music lessons or producing opportunities. The tasks I speak of directly correlate to the things that will help me grow as a musician, a writer and a content creator. Why do I lack the motivation necessary to realize my dreams? Do my insecurities about what others think keep me from trying? Or am I a product of always waiting for the right moment and that moment never coming. Regardless of the reason I believe there is an answer to solving my problem. To experiment with what the answer might be, I’ve set a personal music checklist that will help me keep track of the tasks I need to do in regards to my music career. Here is an actual copy of what I have set up for myself in the next year to do every week:
All of the items listed here help me in my ultimate goal of doing my own music full-time, whether it helps me grow as a musician or helps me gain a greater following. Now what's the difference in having these goals in your head versus writing them down on a schedule? For my brain, it brings some stability to the madness that goes on daily in my head. Earlier I mentioned how scatterbrained I am, and that consists of me constantly thinking about ten things at once. To streamline these thoughts into a checklist helps me gain some traction towards achieving my goals. I also realize that my thoughts can feel overwhelming, but written out are quite achievable. If I’m thinking about how I have to do all these different things, in my mind they seem big, scary and difficult, which is not much of an incentive to get them done. However, writing them out lets me know that these are simple tasks. Some may be more difficult than others, but It does not mean they are un-achievable within a day's time.
Now to help with my discipline in checking off these items, I also have to eliminate distractions. Distractions come in many different shapes and forms, and aren’t always in the form of what one might consider a time-waster. Let’s break down the different things that may come my way that would deviate me from completing my tasks on any given day.
First thing first, you need to get out of bed. I have a king-sized bed that is warm and has an amazing level of comfort. Since I work from home most days, every morning I have to fight the urge to stay in bed all day because that is the first level of comfort that I wake up to. Sometimes I try to trick myself into staying in bed by saying “Oh I can just work from the bed, and do everything I need to do from there”. To be honest, that is the biggest piece of dog crap. How can I expect myself to work hard to achieve my dreams if I can’t even bring myself to go to the other room to work. Lines must be drawn and boundaries must be set. The bedroom is for rest and intimacy with my spouse. It’s not a place of productivity from a dream achieving standpoint. Luckily I have a wife who keeps me accountable by forcing me out of bed and makes sure to always open the blinds to let fresh sunlight in. Those things for me are enough to overcome the first battle of the day.
The second distraction I have to overcome is what I like to call the “living room comfort zone”. Once you get brave enough to leave the bedroom, the distractions don’t end there. In the living room lies the temptation of Netflix, HBO Max and video games at the push of a button. Everyone knows there are so many hours in a life-time wasted in front of a screen, and most of the time keeps you from being productive. To combat this I simply get ready. I brush my teeth, do my hair, put on real clothes and give myself a confidence boost by putting my best foot forward when it comes to how I look. On days where I play basketball in the morning as a work out, I’ll get dressed, go out for an hour, come home, take a shower, get ready and start my work day. By simply getting ready, I am saying to the living room “hey I love you and I’ll be back soon, but I have some stuff to do first, I’ll see you when I get back from ‘work’”. In my house I have the luxury of my home office being across the house, but I also have to pass the living room every morning and it makes it that much more tempting everyday. However, there is also satisfaction. After a hard day of hustling to make my dreams happen, I can sit on the couch and enjoy myself without the guilt of feeling I didn't do everything I could today. The living room is for entertainment, quality time with family and friends, and unplugging from a busy world (which everyone needs sometimes). The living room is NOT a high-capacity creative zone, and it needs to stay that way to create healthy boundaries.
The last thing I do, which is difficult to navigate, is not to spend extra time on tasks that don’t give me extra benefits. I am a master procrastinator and I have a history of putting off important tasks to knock out insignificant ones. I’ve had college papers that have a midnight deadline and I wouldn’t start until an hour before they were due. In the time I could’ve been writing my paper, I distracted myself by cleaning my room, cleaning out my car, or doing the laundry. All of those tasks are necessary and need to be done, but ultimately can be used as a crutch to distract yourself from doing the task at hand. I even found myself doing unneeded house work, like re-organizing the kitchen cabinets when I have a weekly blog I need to be writing. Every day when I have this urge to ignore the tasks at hand, I have to remind myself of the benefits of completing the goals I have set for myself. And sometimes I fail. I indulge in the distractions but I suffer the consequences. And I always regret it when I do. So I try to remember what that disappointment feels like. A lot of times that is enough to help me cross the daily finish line and get me one step closer to obtaining a life long dream.
To be clear, I’m not pretending to be someone who is a savant at time management. What I am saying is that I’m trying to be better, and I think that matters. Maybe you reading this feel like you want to be better too. And that's great. Maybe along the way we can keep each other accountable to help reach our goals. Just know you’ll mess up along the way, and that it’s ok to mess up. What matters is that you wake up trying everyday. And everyday you realize your growth and find yourself one step closer in your dreams becoming a reality. Wish me luck on my journey and pray that this blog becomes less of a chore to write and more of a weekly opportunity to grow. Much love my friends
- Carlos Rising
