My day-to-day didn’t change much, if at all, when the current pandemic began. As the months passed, my mental health and self-esteem slowly declined. Much of it, outside of the psychological impact of dealing with a virus that still has many unknowns and sheltering in place, was due to my own expectation to continue to perform optimally.
I had a laundry list of tasks to complete and tried to show up to my work as though a pandemic and racial injustices weren’t occurring, even when my clients asked for grace as they pivoted to support their staff and program participants.
While I still have many items on my to-do list, most of these items aren’t tackled on a normal day. As we’re still in the middle of a pandemic, I’m lucky if I’m able to knock out 1-2 high-level items. The more items I crossed off my list, the more accomplished I felt…but most of these items didn’t move me towards my bigger goals in any significant way.
Several years ago, I came across the concept of a “well done” list. I tucked the concept away and thought about it the other day as I looked at my ever-growing to-do list.
What’s a “well done” list? Similar to a to-do list, it’s a list of tasks. Instead of focusing on the number of items you cross off your to-do list, a “well done” list acknowledges the quality of what gets done.
Creating a “well done” list uses a technique called cognitive reframing, a technique used in social work and therapy that helps us to look at a circumstance from a different perspective in order to change its meaning. While you can be overwhelmed by the items you didn’t get to cross off your to-do list, you can use cognitive reframing to shift your focus to the items that you were able to complete. Plus, tomorrow’s another day and you can cross more off your o-do list.
So, what gets added to a “well done” list? If there are 5 tasks that you want to cross off your list, I suggest identifying 2 or 3 tasks that, when you get to the end of your day, you’ll feel accomplished that these particular items were completed.
Read 3 chapters of that new book you downloaded a month ago? Repotted your plants? Finally scheduled the date for the family Zoom gathering? If these were high-level tasks for the day, consider them “well done”.
Raise Your Voice: Do you have a “well done” list? How can you apply this concept to your daily routine? Share below in the comments section.
