Reframing My To Do List in this Season of Life

Does anyone else feel like they blinked and suddenly it was December?  No?  Just me?  Yeah right.  I know I am not the only one who has had a completely nutso year.  With pregnancy, house projects, HAVING A BABY, working, blogging, and just trying to stay afloat while also getting a few hours of shut-eye, my 2017 has been 100% all over the place.  I generally feel exhausted, yet happy all at the same time.

I think the first year postpartum is just a weird time.  During my first month of maternity leave, I remember telling Jeremy numerous times that every day felt so busy and yet I felt like I had accomplished nothing.  Of course caring for and loving a newborn is certainly not nothing.  But when you are used to feeling accomplished from a successful day at work, a clean house, a published blog post, or a home cooked meal, having a day spent nursing, changing diapers, cuddling, and watching Netflix can feel like nothing.

It wasn’t until the second month of my maternity leave that I was able to completely re-frame things in my mind and approach the “slower” days as productive and rewarding.  I was able to make this switch in my frame of mind by doing one simple thing.

These days I am taking my “to do” list and crossing every single thing off of it before I even start it.  Clean the kitchen?  Vacuum?  Do laundry?  Create a new recipe?  Respond to e-mails?  Check, check, check!  Do I actually accomplish any of these things?  Not very often.  But by crossing them off of my “to do” list and essentially getting rid of the “to do” list altogether, I am giving myself permission to focus on the things that really matter.  Like snuggling my sweet baby, spending quality time with family and friends, and ensuring that I fit a little “me time” into my weeks.

Staring at a “to do” list that is a million miles long feels defeating and disheartening.  But staring at a “to do” list with everything crossed off feels like freedom.  These days I am enjoying the newfound freedom I have to love on life and the people around me.

While I’m not encouraging you to avoid paying your bills or going to work (those are the kinds of “to do’s” that actually have to happen), I encourage you to take today’s “to do” list and cross everything off of it.  Go snuggle your baby.  Go have dinner with your significant other.  Take a bath.  Have that glass of wine.  The house cleaning and grocery shopping can wait until tomorrow.