Hello everybody! Welcome back to my blog. The purpose of this blog is to help people find their way to a healthier lifestyle. I mostly talk about exercise, nutrition and the science behind them, which are my areas of expertise, but I also talk about sleeping habits, minimalism and many other subjects related to wellbeing and healthy lifestyle. 

If you know me or have followed me since the beginning, you know how passionate I am about organisation. One of the things I use to organise everything and get things done is lists. Do you struggle to organise your day and get everything done? Do you feel like there is too much to do and too little time to finish everything? Today, I am going to tell you some benefits of using to do lists to make your life a bit easier.

1. Organisation.

To do lists are really good for organising your daily tasks. But be careful. To do lists can be tricky if used incorrectly. If you fill up your to do lists with many items, the to do list may turn against you. You must be realistic.

Once you understand what you are capable of doing on a day considering the different factors that can affect it, it’s time to make a to do list. Put in it all the things you need to get done (groceries, finish a project, start a new book, do at least 30’ exercise, etcetera). When you have all your tasks together it is easier to get them finished without forgetting anything.

2. Priorities.

A few weeks ago I shared a post about the importance of having a week off, and how to identify your priorities. Check it out!

THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING A WEEK OFF

Figuring out your priorities is vital prior to making a to do list. By doing this, you’ll avoid getting frustrated because you’re not finishing your endless to do lists.

To do lists themselves are a great way to find out your priorities. Sometimes we fill them up with tasks we’d like to do but we never find the time to do them. Perhaps it’s time to scrap some other things from your list to introduce the things you really want to do. In my post “Less Netflix, more real life” I use use a backpack as a metaphor of how much we charge our lives with tasks and we end up not having time for the important things. Have a look at it!

Less Netflix, more real life

3. Feeling of accomplishment.

When you tick off the items from your to do list, it’s like you have achieved a little goal. People need challenges, deadlines, long term and short term goals to stay motivated and feel like having a purpose.

As much as we all dream about not having to do anything, we need to do something to feel fulfilled. For this reason, many rich people suffer from depression. They feel empty because they have nothing to accomplish, nothing to look forward to.

Take every to do list and every item from it as a little goal. Your brain does it already.

4. Dopamine rush.

Following up with the previous point, this feeling of accomplishment is linked with an increased level of dopamine.

Every time we tick and item off our to do list, our brain feels pleasure thanks to this dopamine. This is why making lists is so addictive.

Like people get addicted to drugs, we can get addicted to other things that release dopamine, such as exercising. Of course exercising or to do lists are healthier than recreational drugs, though all addictions may turn against you. But don’t worry, the amount of dopamine released while doing exercise or ticking off the tasks from a list is nothing compared to the unhealthy amount of dopamine released when doing drugs.

5. Productivity.

There are many definitions of productivity and some of them may lead to confusion (productivity can be defined depending on the industry). The way I understand productivity is getting things done in a determined period of time without being distracted.

Sometimes we lose focus because we know that there’s a bunch of things we need to do, though we don’t even know where to start. Having a to do list will make you gain focus. Now you know what you need to do, you can figure out how long it would take, and you can therefore organise accordingly. This will give you time to do other things you always wanted to do, and perhaps you can even get bored, which is really good for your creativity. But that’s another story, a subject for another post!

6. Memory improvement.

There are so many things we have to remember, that we might end up forgetting the important ones. How many times have you forgotten something that was important for you, or the house keys, just because you kept thinking about all the other things you needed to do. Take the time to write down all those things, so that you can focus on the present time, and remember the really important things. Don’t go to the groceries without your shopping list, and you won’t forget your wallet. Don’t start your day without making a list of the things you have to do, so you won’t forget about that important essay. Don’t start a multiple task project without making a checklist of the things you must talk about, so you won’t miss anything.

To do lists are just one example of lists. In future posts, I will break down this subject into different parts: shopping lists, books to read list, checklists, and many others that I use and that may help you organise a bit better.

That’s it for today! I really hope that you enjoy it. If you like what I do and you want to support this project, follow me on Instagram and Facebook, like the post and comment! Should you have feedback you’d like to leave, a comment to share with me, or a cool idea for a post, send me an email to sanchisayslifestyle@gmail.com