Your todo list should be a friend, not an enemy

Ha Nguyen
2 min readJul 14, 2020

Time for bed, it’s a long day, you look at your todo list and guess what

So many left to be done.

What would you feel?

Guilty, frustrated, unproductive, stressful, ashamed?

Here’s the fact: you will hardly get all your work done!

Not-yet-completed is not inefficiency; it’s progress.

Once you accept & be comfortable with this, it gives you peace of mind to enjoy life!

Rule of thumb for the daily todo list, KISS

Yes, Keep It Short & Sweet.

Have around six tasks in total in your daily todo list.

Three things matter personally and the rest professionally.

Don’t get obsessed with getting everything done.

Get obsessed with getting the essential things done & making progress even just for a little.

In all teamwork, there would be always someone who completes everything at the last minute.

And that person is (sadly) me.

I do everything just.in.time: submit schoolwork, write an article, edit a video, or even run to the train.

Here’s my two problems:

1. I try to please people (or just I assume they would be pleased) -> Promise a deadline that I know would be a rush

2. Over-optimistic -> Estimate too little time, energy, the resource needed

Here’s an advise I got from a wise person that I’m trying to apply in everyday life:

When having a new task

Choose a deadline that is incredibly achievable for yourself, stick with it.

But when communicating with others, add two more days, and you will never be late or last-minute.

Ha Nguyen

A child advocate & entrepreneur in Helsinki who cares about education, fairness, the environment & sustainability. Stay in touch on IG: @a.second.of.happiness