About half a year ago — probably around the time I started my YouTube channel — I suddenly had so many things to do that I felt like writing them down. Unexpectedly, this turned out to be useful, because it taught me two things.
Thing number one: if you’ve done everything — better take a rest.
After a few weeks of keeping a small to-do notebook, I realized that if I push myself at the start of the week and finish everything right away, then any rest at the end of the week will feel like useless idleness. As a result, I’d spend half the week exhausted, and the other half feeling worthless. A weekly task list helps me see my workload, spread it out, and actually understand that I am allowed to rest a little every day.
Thing number two: if there’s something you really don’t want to do (calling people, taking out the trash, dealing with documents) — put it in the plan.
What helps me a lot is splitting the roles between “Misha the Planner” and “Misha the Doer.” Planner-Misha thinks on the scale of weeks, sometimes months. He knows he can schedule a tough task for a lighter day. Doer-Misha doesn’t need to think: the task is already assigned, he just gets it done. That way, procrastination loses its main ally — the constant draining mental load of an unfinished task.
So, no matter how techno-optimistic I am, a notebook and a pen still work wonders. Oh, and they’re always lying right here on my desk, unlike any Trello board — so I can’t really forget about them.