A few years ago I heard about the concept of a done list.
I could use a “have done” list right now. Small steps are so easy to ignore. https://t.co/ENjToBZH5x
— Vanessa Smith (@normal_ness) March 1, 2022
Tweet reads: “I could use a “have done” list right now. Small steps are so easy to ignore.” The quoted tweet says: “”Imagine if, twelve months from now, you didn’t have to try to acknowledge your successes. You can get there by putting in a little effort ahead of time, and making a habit of celebrating wins big and small.” The quoted tweet also links to this article on celebrating your wins.
The previous attempt
I tried this in 2022, but ran across a few roadblocks. Not only getting sick and not recovering, but also needing the undated diary in front of me to remember to do the done list. And that if I didn’t do it regularly, I would fill the diary in after the fact, which oddly didn’t work for me at all as a sense of achievement.
2024’s version of a done list
2023 was a complex mess, and while I’m sure I did do good things overall, I didn’t really know what they were. This year, I wanted my feelings of accomplishment to be easier to look back on. To feel “yeah, you know what, that wasn’t bad, I did stuff”.
Image description: An A5 white heavy-weighted notebook. At the top of the page it says 04 JAN. Underneath that it says “scheduled youtube” with a little blue sketch of an iMac. Under that it says “Sorted links – meeee and work” with the word LINKS in “bold”.
I shared this on the socials but thought I’d also log it as a blog post so that it’s easier for me to share my trialling of this if/when it comes up.
Where did this idea come from?
Instagram! Specifically, this reel:
View this post on Instagram
You can see my comment on the reel: “I love the idea of an arty done list…this intrigues me”.
I suck at drawing!
So do I! You do not have to be an artist to do this. This is for yourself, no one else. These are the sketches I did from my first few days of using this method. You do not have to be wonderful. It’s just about adding something little to visually depict what you wrote down.
I can’t tell you if this will work for you. I hope that sharing my sketches shows you that you do not need to be an artist. Try it. If it really bothers you that they look like shit (like mine) then it’s not the tool for you.
If you can ignore it and move past crummy sketches and it helps you, then use it. Sometimes you don’t know until you try. If you’re interested but the thought of needing to be an artist is holding you back… try. That’s all you need to do.
Image description: a photo of part of a white notebook. There are small sketches showing things like paw prints, numbers in circles, a footpath, and some tick marks.
Sharing it
I’m not going to be sharing my arty done lists online much, if at all. Only because I’m going to be combining work and personal stuff on the list, and while it’s not like I’m a spy, I just don’t really share work stuff online. Plus, who wants to read “set up a new spreadsheet” a bunch of times!?
Have you ever tried a done list? Or an arty done list? What was your experience with it?
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