How to rewrite the to-do list to worry less and keep up more

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It seems obvious that it is important to write down all the tasks in order not to miss anything, do more and better evaluate your capabilities. And at the same time avoid the rather painful Zeigarnik effect, because of which we cannot get unfinished business out of our heads and mentally return to them over and over again.

But too long and chaotic to-do lists sometimes do more harm than good. They cause panic, make you worry, worry and spoil your mood.

Occupational therapy (or employment therapy) helps About occupational therapy / The World Federation of Occupational Therapists people cope with various diseases and difficulties through hobbies, work and other daily activities. And she can suggest a couple of methods to organize the to-do list and make it more comfortable for our mental health. Here are some simple steps to help you get there.

1. Divide the tasks into categories

There is a in employment therapy K. W. Hammell. Self-Care, productivity, and leisure, or dimensions of occupational experience? Rethinking occupational “categories” / Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy three main categories of cases:

• Productivity. It includes tasks related to study, work, and child care.
• Taking care of yourself. It means not only face masks, baths and massages, although they too. Self-care is considered here in a broad sense and includes cooking, shopping for clothes, cleaning, hygiene, visits to the doctor, sports.
• Rest. This is anything that helps to relax, gain strength and impressions, or change the environment, from reading a book and needlework to hiking in the mountains.

Also, nothing prevents you from coming up with your own categories, for example, "Study", "Work", "Parenthood", "Self—development" - the main thing is that there should not be very many of them, no more than five.

2. Evaluate your balance

When you have decided on the categories, look at the list of your tasks and sign which category they correspond to. Some cases may fall into two categories at once. For example, is going to a cosmetologist for a facial massage a rest or self—care? In such cases, enter the task into any group at your discretion.

Then count how many cases fall into each group. If the number of cases in all categories is about the same, that's great. But if you are stressed all the time, tired and can't sort out the accumulated tasks in any way, most likely you will find a serious imbalance in your list.

For example, you work too much and hardly get any rest. Or you care about others, but not about yourself. Or maybe you don't spend much time on your hobbies and personal projects.

Such a bias does not have the best effect on the emotional state. A study conducted in Sweden showed C. Håkansson, G. Ahlborg, Jr. Occupational imbalance and the role of perceived stress in predicting stress-related disorders / Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy that the imbalance of employment leads to various stress-related disorders.

3. Make a new list

Occupational therapist Sarah Bence gives How to tweak your to-do list for your mental health / Healthline such recommendations:

• Immediately sort the cases into categories and try to have about the same number of them in each. If there are 15 tasks in the "Productivity" section, there should not be only two in the "Rest" section.
• Do not overdo it and do not try to schedule too many things, otherwise this pile may demotivate you. For example, you can register 10 tasks in each category for a week.
• Complete tasks evenly. Try to take cases from all categories every day. If you work hard from Monday to Friday, clean and run for groceries on Saturday, and only do yoga, read and make a face mask on Sunday evening, your balance will still be disturbed.
• Treat yourself wisely and carefully. Don't take on too much and remember that the better you take care of yourself, the more you can do.