Fall always feels like it sneaks up on us. The kids are back in school, and keynote season heats up with conferences in full swing. I’m guessing you have your version of this season too!
Sometimes life feels like one long to-do list, doesn’t it? Between work, home, family, and the curveballs in between, the tasks never seem to stop stacking up. And while we all know lists can help us stay organized, I’ve realized it’s not always the tasks themselves that wear us down—it’s the way we carry them.
LEADERSHIP: Task Worry-ment vs. Task Management
One of the lessons I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older is this: stress doesn’t always come from the number of tasks on our plate—it comes from the way we think about those tasks. I call it “task worry-ment.”
Unconsciously, I used to assign each task on my to-do list an emotional weight (a sort of figurative light, medium, or heavy). I would also give it an enjoyment level ranging from blah → bummer → bring it! Before I knew it, I would feel the figurative build-up of those tasks. Just thinking about them made me tired (for both work and home). I would quickly go into stress mode.
When people asked me how I was doing, I’d answer with a “busy but good,” upbeat tone but with slight pressure behind my words. What I know now (hopefully because I’m wiser and done burning myself out) is that this kind of thinking is a trap. It’s so easy to let things mentally stack up.
Here’s how it plays out in our work and daily life: We don’t just think about the task in front of us. We think about all the tasks stacked up behind it. Then we calculate how long they’ll take, how late we’ll be, and before we’ve even started, the stress has already multiplied.
And to be clear—we’re not minimizing the fact that there are always a million things to do. We’re not minimizing how it can feel like they’re never ending. And we’re not minimizing the reality that we can’t do them all at once and that prioritization matters.
What we are saying is this: our tasks aren’t going away, and we’re going to do them anyway. It’s a sad realization, I know.
We only have so many hours in the day where tasks will be completed, moved around, or added to the list. That part doesn’t change. What does change is whether we carry extra stress while doing them. Adding worry or weight doesn’t equal productivity—it equals stress and pressure…dare I say burnout?
Once I accepted that tasks are inevitable, endless, and ever-shifting (not being negative, just matter of fact), it became a lot easier to maintain my sanity. I know I’ll do the best I can to get things done, order and reorder along the way, and keep moving forward.
So now, instead of “task worry-ment,” I practice “task management.” I remind myself: There will always be more tasks. I don’t have to carry them all at once. I just have to do the next one. Re-prioritize when needed and keep going.
It’s not magic, but it feels like it. Stress shrinks, steady progress continues, and my day feels lighter. Maybe give it a try—less worry-ment, more management.
One other tip: If you’ve ever thought, “I don’t even know where to begin…I have too many things to stop worrying about,” create a dumping zone. My paper to-do list is a lifesaver. I keep a post-it note taped to it—that’s where my “next-in-line” items live. Electronic lists work too, but I love the satisfaction of writing and checking things off. Every few days I rewrite the post-it, and when the bigger paper fills up or all the items are checked off, I start a fresh one. I don’t get hung up on how many things are on the list, but rather think of it as a place to dump (bring in that big ol’ dump truck…I need a place to put all that stuff).
My challenge to you: reflect on whether you’re assigning extra worry to your tasks, and make sure you’ve got a dumping ground so your brain doesn’t have to carry it all. Find the system that works for you!
LIFE: Failing Forward — Cricut Style
My 11-year-old daughter is the proud new owner of a Cricut—one of those magical machines that makes everything from t-shirt designs to greeting cards to signs for every corner of your home.
She has claimed the role of CEO of Cricut Operations. When Grandma visited this past weekend, I overheard my daughter explaining in a very confident (and slightly annoyed) voice that she “already knows how to do it.” Grandma laughed and replied playfully, “Oh, I bet you do.” And of course, learning the hard way came quickly. They went through a handful of sheets where the design cut off, misaligned, or just didn’t look like what they pictured. Grandma gently tried to coach her, but I think most of it went in one ear and out the other. Thankfully, we had extra paper on hand.
But here’s the thing—my daughter is failing forward. With each try, she’s getting more precise, more patient, and more willing to experiment. So far, we have personalized signs for all of our bedroom doors, a welcome sign from the garage, and apparently cabinet labels are next on the production schedule.
Watching her reminds me how much growth happens when we’re willing to try, adjust, and keep going—especially when we get it wrong at first. Live in the lab like a scientist: test, learn, repeat. It’s not about avoiding mistakes; it’s about learning to fail forward.
And sometimes, giving ourselves permission to say, “I already know how to do this!”—or even better, “I can figure this out!”—with confidence doesn’t hurt either.