The Magic of an Ongoing Low Stakes To-Do List

Back when I was freshly postpartum with Ziggy, I was lamenting online (what’s new?) about how unproductive I felt. How little time I had to do literally anything and how quickly boredom had become a foreign concept. As much as I tried to lean into the newness of motherhood and shift my focus solely to keeping the baby alive, my eyes would constantly drift around my surroundings during feedings, diaper changes, and naps and obsess over everything I wasn’t getting done (i.e. laundry, dishes, et. al). It was a follower, actually, who told reached out and suggest that me instead of going into each day with a To-Do list that will inevitably end up making me feel like a failure by bedtime, that I should end each day with a Did-Do list. Change the narrative, ya know? Go into the day without a list of tasks looming over me of which I know I’ll only complete a fraction, and instead end the day reflecting on everything I got done, no matter how small the task.

I immediately took her advice and the shift of perspective changed everything. I realized how much I actually was getting done in a day, even if I wasn’t checking off a list throughout the day in the traditional, Type A sense. Taking time to step back and think about everything I DID DO made all the difference for my mental state, and I’ve carried that concept with me into my second bout of postpartum, but with my own learned twist on it.