My To-Do List Will Never Be Done - And That’s Okay
Last week, I wrote about chasing a feeling and how life can feel perpetually just out of reach. This week, I want to explore the idea of completion - of checking off every box on your to-do list. Because let’s be honest— as a society we are obsessed with it. There are whole platforms like Notion, Trello, and Microsoft Planner dedicated to helping people get stuff done.
My toxic trait is making a completely unhinged to-do list for myself and then feeling frustrated when I cross off 2-3 items at most. Sure, there’s something cathartic about ticking a box and the deep satisfaction of finishing something. But lately, I’ve noticed my to-do lists never seem to shrink. In fact, they only seem longer. And usually, this correlates with an uptick in stress in my life.
I think know stress drives me to make lists as a way to establish some semblance of control. But the lists often become useless because I never come close to finishing them. Here’s the thing: if you are like me, your to-do lists are never finished. There’s always one lurking in the shadows, waiting to steal your Saturday morning or swallow your after-work routine—all with the promise that this list will finally get you organized and get your sh!t together.
As Jack Nicholson says in The Witches of Eastwick—one of my all-time favorite movies—“You wash the dishes, there’s more to wash tomorrow.” Sure, in the movie he’s literally the devil trying to convince Cher to eschew her domestic responsibilities and sleep over, but he’s not wrong about the dishes. Some things in life will never be done. Yet we tackle them like they can be. And that’s how frustration and overwhelm creep in.
I enjoy a clean house, but not at the expense of my limited free time and energy. At some point, it’s okay to say: this is good enough. The floors don’t need to sparkle, the laundry doesn’t need to be folded immediately, and the dishes can wait until morning. The same goes for your to-do list. It’s okay to cap it at two or three things instead of trying to do everything in a single day. Doing a few things well—and then resting—often serves us far better than exhausting ourselves in the pursuit of “caught up,” a state that rarely exists anyway.
As we start 2026, many people start plotting the whole new year - new me. If this is you and you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by everything you think you should be tackling this year, I’m here to say—put down the pen and paper, close out your Notes app, and take a beat. Ask yourself: what’s driving the need to accomplish everything right now?
To help, I have my Let It Go List, which I first shared back in 2022. It’s a simple tool that helps you sift through all the things floating around in your brain, and categorize them as important or something to just let go - at least for now. While my priorities have shifted since creating my Let It Go List, much of the advice still rings true. Check out the full post and grab the free download here.
How long is your to-do list? Are you going to let some things go in 2026?