Do you always accomplish what you set out to do for the day?

Ruth n Jersey

Ruth n Jersey

Well-known Member
Location
Northern New Jersey
I would say 80% of the time I don't. I find this aggravating. Most of the time it is my own doing. I plan to much in a day. For today I had planned to wash and change the sheets on the bed, dust up and spend the rest of the day doing a small painting project, I thought this was doable.. Instead, The pharmacy called and I had to pick up the hubby's meds. I had bought ground beef on sale the day before which I had forgotten about and decided instead of freezing it I would make meat loaf and freeze one. Then thought maybe I would make meatballs for when we have pasta some night. Another trip out because I got a call that my hearing aids were ready for pick up. Maybe I just shouldn't plan at all. I did get the sheets changed but not washed.
 

Ruth n Jersey said:
... I plan too much in a day...
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Ruth, This is the secret I think. If I plan a lot I start thinking it's too overwhelming and put it off. I've found (by accident) if I plan just one little thing, I find that after it's done, I get a second wind, sort of like an "accomplishment rush," and go on to do the next (little thing) and so on. ;)
 
You should be like me Ruth, don't plan much at all, then if I accomplish more I'm happy. :p Life always throws us curve balls and from what you wrote it looks like you got quite a bit accomplished, don't be too hard on yourself. :love_heart:
 

This happens to me a lot too.

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

Agree with SB, just don't plan too much. That way you feel happy about what you did get done and well, that's all that really matters .
 
I DON'T KNOW WHO WROTE THIS, BUT IT IS SPOT ON:

Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. This is how it manifests:

I decided to wash my car. As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the hall table. I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the trashcan under the table, and notice that the trashcan is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the trash first. But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the trash anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my checkbook off the table, and see that there is only one check left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go to my desk where I find the bottle of coke that I had been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I see that the coke is getting warm, and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need to be watered. I set the coke down on the counter, and I discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers. I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table. I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, we will be looking for the remote, but nobody will remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I splash some water on the flowers, but most of it spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day: the car isn't washed, the bills aren't paid, there is a warm bottle of coke sitting on the counter, the flowers aren't watered, there is still only one check in my checkbook, I can't find the remote, I can't find my glasses, and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired. I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.

Do me a favor, will you? Forward this message to everyone you know, because I don't remember to whom it has been sent.
 
Sometimes I lose a day where nothing much gets done and some days I impress myself with how much I can accomplish.

I try to work from a list jotted on the back of an old envelope and concentrate on the five most important items. The important things always get done and some things never get done, they just fall off the list eventually. My system goes back to my working days when anything other than the five most important items could be delegated to someone else, those were the days LOL!!!
 
jujube said:
I DON'T KNOW WHO WROTE THIS, BUT IT IS SPOT ON:

Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. This is how it manifests:

I decided to wash my car. As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the hall table. I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the trashcan under the table, and notice that the trashcan is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the trash first. But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the trash anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my checkbook off the table, and see that there is only one check left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go to my desk where I find the bottle of coke that I had been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I see that the coke is getting warm, and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need to be watered. I set the coke down on the counter, and I discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers. I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table. I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, we will be looking for the remote, but nobody will remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I splash some water on the flowers, but most of it spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day: the car isn't washed, the bills aren't paid, there is a warm bottle of coke sitting on the counter, the flowers aren't watered, there is still only one check in my checkbook, I can't find the remote, I can't find my glasses, and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired. I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.

Do me a favor, will you? Forward this message to everyone you know, because I don't remember to whom it has been sent.
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Sounds familiar, been there, done that, lol. :crying:
 
My nickname with hubby is Ruthless...

...because I've always been OCD and I make lists for EVERYTHING. So I tend to think I'm the Energizer Bunny with what I set out to accomplish on my list every day and, especially if it's the endless chores and projects on the farm, I'll lose all track of time and just work until I drop. I get 90% of my daily list done and, of course, I fret about the other ten percent. Hubby is a saint to put up with me.
 
Like Angelica I don't make any to do lists for every day. I know if I really need to do something and I just take care of it or if I have to do something in the next month I might mark it down so I don't forget. I don't like any stress in my retirement either :)
 
Re lists:

Back in the day when I had a very stressful job and lived a very stressful life, I used to wake up in the middle of the night in a panic because I as afraid I was going to forget about something I needed to do the next day. I couldn't get back to sleep unless I got up and wrote myself a note about it. Unfortunately, I'd read the note the next morning and it would say something like "Don't forget that thing." OK....what thing? Or "be sure to make the call." Once again....what call? Or best yet "DON'T FORGET!!!!" I'd forgotten already, obviously.
 
When I first retired, I was a list maker (always have been), but then would get stressed if everything on the list was not accomplished at the end of the week. So now before I go to sleep I go over in my mind what I want to get done the next day. Sometimes it happens but most days it does not. So since it is not written down , I do not stress as much. Funny how a dusty table top can wait a day or two before I get to it! It's not the end of the world!
 
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