To Do Or Not To Do

My list of tasks to get done had started to get the better of me this weekend. Thinking about the ever growing mountain of small tasks that sat at the top of a huge mountain made of a few big tasks, I just couldn't bring myself to start anything, and just watched YouTube or board games streamed on Twitch instead.

The weather wasn't helpful either. This weekend had been wretched, with three days of non-stop rain that has caused the complete evacuation of one town of 7,000 residents, washed away roads across the provence and blocked railway lines. As of Monday evening, it was officially declared that Vancouver is cut off from the rest of Canada by road and rail. 

We made it out Sunday from the weekly big shopping trip to Costco, and that was the only time we stepped outside the door. I watched Enchanted and Marvel's Shang-Chi on Disney+. 

This morning was no better. The rain was still pouring down. We walked Ada to school and in the way back I went to Safeway to buy some supplies. I got home and made brunch for Claire, Connor and myself and decided to make a concrete list of what I needed to get done over the next few days. 

At first, it was a list on my phone, but I realized really quickly that it was just as easy to ignore that. Instead, I grabbed a stack of Post-Its and a Sharpie. Not sponsored. Other brands are available. But, if anyone reading this works for either company, call me. 

I wrote one task, or group of related tasks on each Post-It, and stuck them to the fridge. Once I had all the ones from my phone up, I stood back, looked upon my work, and did a random unimportant task that wasn't at all on the list. 

Instant failure. 

But with that out of the way, I went back to the fridge. 

I vacuumed the entire house, washed the kitchen and bathroom floors, cleaned the oven top, sent three important emails, wrote and sent invoices, started the paperwork to register Connor for kindergarten next year and took out the compost, to name just the tasks I remember, because as I completed a Post-It, I ripped it from the fridge, scrunched it up and threw it in the (recycling) bin, where it now belonged. And all while listening to board games being played on Twitch. 

There see still, at this moment, eleven Post-Its on the fridge. But that's a lot less than this morning. And there'll be a lot less tomorrow evening. 

Note to self: Buy more Post-Its.