DR INNOCENT NAHABWE: Why not make a not-to-do list instead!

When we were kids, we promised ourselves to do a lot of things when we grow up. Apart from being the cool professions that existed at the time, we thought we would make money, eat all the bread we wanted, buy all the beer and have a blast. All that was a lie!

In real life, growing old means self-reliance, helping others, struggling to feed ungrateful souls and paying for so many things that you don’t want to use among other things.

This world is so busy. You wake up and there are thousands of things you need to do. You sit at your desk and in a few moments, it’s already the end of the day. Yet, the time is fixed. You start praying that God extends your day by some hours but it’s still impossible.

For most people, they make a to-do list daily and try to achieve it. I tried and realized it was tiring. I rushed through the things I listed and grew frustrated about not accomplishing them. They appeared on my to-do list the next day.

Then I discovered the No-to-do list.

Yes, things I should not do. It was relieving. See, things we do daily are often a routine. It’s a series of repetitive things. So, those must be done and anything else that must be done. But along with that, it’s important to be focused. This calls for you to know what to leave out and not give it your valuable time.

One form of distraction is Social media for example, so I choose not to check my socials between 9AM to 11AM and from 5PM to 9PM. That frees up lots of time.

I also refused to eat outside the lunch break. Eating and snacking is not only a sure way to binge on bad carbs but it’s time consuming. Imagine how much time you need to look for an escort and make tea. When you are really busy, that’s a lot of time. Eating at selected times is time saving and allows you to focus.

I refused to procrastinate for example. If I want to call someone, I don’t wait, I stop what I am doing, and call. If an idea comes up, I call the team and we discuss it and agree on how best to handle it. Many great ideas die because we keep waiting for the perfect time. That never comes.

So, whereas everyone says you should have a to-do list, try not-to-do list and witness magic.