Using the little yellow notepad to free your mind from your to do list

This life tip is simple, practical and satisfying. Adopt it early because by simply writing things down and having a plan on what you need to accomplish during the day will allow you be free from worry that you will forget what needs to be done. Clearing up space in your mind from thinking about what you have to do over and over again by getting your thoughts put down on paper and making your to do list.

My favorite thing to keep on my nightstand is a small, yellow notepad.

Here is what that looks like:



OK, so why the yellow pad? Well...

• it’s not too big and bulky

• it has lines for me to write down what I need to do

• the yellow stands out against all the other papers making it easier to find.

I buy these notepads from Amazon and a pack of 12 and I love them.

Here’s the link.

OK, so how does writing things down clear my mind? It allows me to get my thoughts and my to-do's on paper where I won’t have to worry about them over and over again in my mind. When I’m laying in bed at night and I’m thinking about the next day and what I need to accomplish, I write it down and it puts my mind at ease. I think a lot of times people think more about what they need and waste their time rather than just getting stuff done. I really do use a to-do list every single day. I have my dailies that are no-brainers, but I do even list those so that I can feel the accomplishment of checking another thing off my list.

Things that may be on my list for the day:

• my daily routine (there’s another blog post for that)

• my morning walk for my dogs (these are daily anyways, then I get into the daily detail)

• Whether it be checking on and paying bills

• family health appointments

• work tasks

• phone calls that need to be made

• emails that need to be sent

• homework tasks to help kids

• the sports driving for the day

• upcoming gifts that need to be bought

The simple yellow pad of paper keeps me focusing on what I need to do and then if I have time for the extras that come up that’s not a problem because I’m not worrying that I might forget that I already have something I need to be at.

I also really like the small size of it. I don’t need a huge paper, this size seems to be just right.



One more note about your daily to do list. This is a checklist that you don’t need to spend a lot of time on. I find it really funny when people spend more time thinking about what needs to be done than actually doing it. The point of the yellow notepad is to get your thoughts down so you can accomplish what you need to and check it off your list. It is not intended to make more work by spend lots of time making lists, just so that you can get your thoughts written down so you can stop stressing that you might forget to do something coming up. I might know what it’s like to have a mental to do list playing over and over in my mind, so that’s why getting it on paper is a must do that for me. I might have been there and I might know that.

Xo,

Mama