I went away over Easter and I didn’t want to come home. I wasn’t sure why, other than that I was having a great time and normal life didn’t seem that appealing.

Then, I realised that it was the silent to-do list that is weighing me down. The to-do list we are not conscious of. Everything in our home ‘speaks’ to us in some way.

For example, the plant that is saying ‘water me’, the wallpaper that is falling off that is saying ‘the house looks awful’ and ‘you still haven’t fixed this yet’ (which leads to a bigger fear that maybe you have expensive damp to sort), the list goes on…

The point is, the silent to-do list might be weighing you down more than you realise. You can find out more in this week’s Motivational Monday vlogcast to hear my top 3 ways of dealing with this.

The silent to-do list

Something that I have been recently made aware of and I think one of the main reasons for the constant feeling of overwhelm was until a few weeks ago something I didn’t even know existed. This might be you too. The ongoing list of jobs that you subconsciously take on board in your mind.

When chatting to my friend Sharon after getting back home from a little break and explaining how I was feeling, it dawned on me that this is what it is. The silent to-do list is what is weighing me down.

This is still very much a new concept to me but I am trying to tackle these silent to-do’s in a manageable way to help with the overwhelm of it all.

Reframing

As I sat with Sharon, instead of looking at all the things that needed to be done in the house, we flipped it around. We started to look at all the lovely things, the things I really love in the house. The quirky little features, the character that I love. We sat for a while and just spoke about the good parts which really allowed me to have some gratitude. This exercise was so helpful for me and it really gave me the chance to work on my mindset.

One room

I have now dedicated one room, which in my case is the living room. This is a room where there aren’t many silent to-do’s. It’s tidy. There is nothing that needs to be sorted. I can just walk in, sit down, relax and get away from all the hustle and bustle of life. So if you can, try to have that one space that you can escape to.

Snag list

I have started to create a snag list for each room and I am going to focus on one room at a time. A snag list is a list of odd jobs that need doing. So for example, I have got lots of things that need doing in the kitchen, things that are falling apart. I have popped all these on a list and I will sort them out, one by one.

Little by little

Next, I am going to tackle them a little bit at a time. I am going to do it like I would tackle a big project for work. I have my 3 things to focus on each week and then 3 things to look at each day and I am taking this approach with these silent to-do’s. Whether it be decluttering, finding a home for things or fixing things.

Finding the way

I don’t want this process to scare anyone or to make them feel like they aren’t doing a good enough job. It is about realising what is overwhelming you within your silent to-do and finding ways to reduce it.

Remember to be kind to yourself, acknowledge it and take your small steps to reduce the silent to-do list.

You’ve got this!
Michelle x

P.S. You can listen to the latest Your Art Matters podcast episodes here: https://www.unitedartspace.org/the-podcast/