also it gives me anxiety to thing about all I have to do before bed. I can’t disconnect properly and get the most of my night sleep…
Voilà ! 🙂
Here's what I'm trying to do right now: At night I try to check my big monthly calendar and write down anything I NEED to remember on a whiteboard I keep next to it – appointments, pick up Rx, call mom, etc… (I feel like this helps me keep important stuff in mind, and gives me a quick estimation of how to structure the next day.) Then in the morning before work, I write my to-do and include what's on the whiteboard.
I've also tried to stop writing Every. Little. Thing. Down. I try to be more broad in the descriptions. Example of an old list: Put laundry in washer, put laundry in dryer, fold laundry, put away laundry. Example of a new list: Do laundry, put laundry away.
I used to think being more detailed would make me feel like I had accomplished more, but I've realized it just cluttered up the lists and made them look impossible to finish. Some things do need to be detailed, but I've found for a lot of things – regular, routine things – less detail is better. I don't like to be micromanaged by others, so why would I micromanage myself?
For me, this stuff seems to help make the actual process of writing and organizing lists less overwhelming and tedious.