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# The never-ending To Do list
- URL: https://www.gilespcroft.com/the-never-ending-to-do-list/
- Published: 2025-07-09T07:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-18T10:51:22.000Z
- Description: Knowing what the mind's up to, when it comes to productivity, is (more than) half the battle. 🤨
- Author: Giles P Croft
- Tags: Productivity, Acceptance, Anxiety, Goals, Mental Health, Moods, Overwhelm & Burnout, Presence, Psychology, Quick insight, Real stories, Stress, Thought realisation, Richard Carlson, IMPLICATIONS

There’s a chapter of Richard Carlson’s best-selling book [*Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff*](https://amzn.to/46rTScI?ref=gilespcroft.com) entitled “*Remind Yourself that When You Die, Your ‘In Basket’ Won’t Be Empty.”*

(Catchy, huh?!)

It’s something I fail to remind myself of, on a daily basis.

🤦🏻‍♂️

Take, for instance, today’s To Do list. In the run up to going away for a couple of weeks (and myriad end-of-term parental shenanigans) the amount of things I want to accomplish, when compared with the amount of time and energy I have, are seriously mismatched.

(Reality is rubbing up against the Giles Ego Construct 📦 and let me tell you, there is friction, people!)

What got *written* on a bit of paper this morning was easily more than could reasonably be accomplished (or so it seemed) and I set about my day with a sort of grim determination, almost resolved to not enjoying myself at all, and to be stressed until I’d crossed as much off as possible.

I remember thinking, *“Jeez, if I get even *half* of that stuff done, I’ll be over the moon!”*

The day didn’t go *so* badly, and just now I looked at the list and found that I’ve crossed off more like three-quarters of it, and *all* the big jobs.

😯

Do I feel over the moon?

Hmmm, the jury’s out on that one…

But I’m more than aware of what the G.E.C. is whispering in my ear:

> 😈 📦: *If you cross them *all* off, you’ll feel better.*

Nope.

It’s a never-ending To Do list, the one that the mind produces.

It’s a Sisyphean task that will *never* complete.

It’s *“*[*I’ll be happy when…*](https://www.gilespcroft.com/ill-be-happy-when/)*”* in its sneakiest of guises.

✋

The mind will **never* be satisfied.

As Richard concludes, in that nattily-titled chapter:

> *“I find that if I remind myself (frequently) that the purpose of life *isn’t* to get it all done, but to enjoy each step along the way and live a life filled with love, it’s far easier for me to control my obsession with completing my list of things to do.”*

To hell with it… I’m off to watch some TV.

😁

Giles

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### Related

[I’ll be happy when…Four words that ruin lives… and yet we don’t even notice 😩![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/f3/9bf3d316-7d32-494b-814f-a7d94d6358c3/content/images/icon/DR_Lockup-Black-3-132.png)The Daily RemindersGiles P Croft![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/f3/9bf3d316-7d32-494b-814f-a7d94d6358c3/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1529672425113-d3035c7f4837-2.jpeg)](https://www.gilespcroft.com/ill-be-happy-when/)

When goal-chasing goes bad.