Do you have a to-do list? If so, chances are you experience times when it just seems to get longer and longer. For every item you check off, you add three more. Things end up taking longer than you thought they would. Unexpected surprises crop up.
During these times, it’s easy to lose sight of how much progress we’re actually making. We’re so busy looking at how far we have to go, we forget how far we’ve already come. Our minds are wired to focus on the negative, so we might feel like we’re spinning in a giant existential hamster wheel of (un)productivity, when the reality is we’ve probably accomplished a lot more than we realise.
That’s why it can be helpful to keep something that is the antithesis of the to-do list: the “have done” list.
What is the “have done” list?
The “have done” list is pretty much what it sounds like: rather than a list of everything you still need to do, it’s a list of everything you’ve already done. It’s tangible proof that you are making steps, however small, and a reminder that you are moving, however gradually, towards where you want to be.
A “have done” list can contain completed items from your to-do list, but it might also contain things that weren’t on that list but still feel like an achievement. Drank your recommended daily amount of water? Got outside for a walk? Caught up with a friend for the first time in ages? Those things count too! The “have done” list helps us reframe our perspective and can help support our trust in ourselves to do what we need to do.
Next time you feel overwhelmed or like you’re not getting aware, give a “have done” list a try and see how it feels. I find it helpful and I hope it’s helpful for you too.
