I am list person. I usually keep To-Do Lists for almost everything. My notepad in my bag has the regular grocery lists, list of books I need to read/buy, list of tasks that needs attention in and around home, options for the dinner menu when friends are invited home, list of gadgets/articles that ‘should’ be bought sooner or later… yes even that!
I believe, that when I write things down the probability of getting that task done is very high. Making lists also helps to prioritise tasks that needs immediate attention vis-a-vis those that can be taken up at a later date.
While, I like to believe that I am a very organised person, some self-reflection revealed that all is not not well on the ‘self’ front. The thought that’s buzzing in my head is “am I doing the thing I most need to be doing right now?” And the answer is NO.
After some soul-searching and taking stock of situation, I have decided that these 7 things should be a part of my daily life.
- Reiki : I have seen the miracles of Reiki in my life. It has helped me to stay calm and relaxed in stressful situations, to have a positive attitude and most importantly it has healed me in many ways. I was regularly practicing it for some time, till I abandoned it altogether. An inspiring post from a friend, awakened the need to make Reiki a way of life for me again.
- Walk : I have an on and off, well mostly ‘off’ affair with daily exercises or walks. While the full length reflection in the mirror brings about a grimace, still it has not resulted in me taking that step towards good health and well-being. Today, being the beginning of a new month, I am inspired to push myself to walk everyday.
- Read : Books are my love, my passion. There was a time when I would read 3-4 books in a week. But now courtesy the smart phone, laptop, I am forever glued to these gadgets for games and messaging, reading tweets and facebooking. I have a huge pile of unread books waiting to be explored and savoured. Reading books has to once again become an integral part of my daily routine.
- Cut-down on Social Media : My day starts with Facebook, Twitter and ends with it! Though, I am not at all active in posting updates or pictures or tweets or links, but I am forever staring at my timeline or wall. As if being away from it will impact my life tremendously. Even while writing this post, I must have checked my FB wall a dozen times! Yes, it is impacting my life, in the sense that I waste so much of the time that can be used to do some constructive activity or task.
- Let Go : Replaying the past over and over again and worrying about the future is a sure shot recipe for not living in the present. This is something I have to train myself to do… enjoy the present moment!
- Some More Discipline : I guess, a bit more commitment towards ‘early to bed and early to rise’, good healthy eating habits, blogging…
- Gratitude : The day when I sit and close my eyes, and think about what I’m grateful for and who I’m grateful for, it gives me that happy and calm feeling and a smile lingers the entire day. It is certainly a good idea to practice this every day and be thankful for all the blessings in your life.
At the end of the day, I will ensure that I have a ‘Tick’ against all these, from now on, till they become a habit!
I am taking part in The Write Tribe Festival of Words 1st – 7th September 2013.
Images courtesy : Google Images
92 Responses
That’s a great list. Some of which I need ticking in my life as well. I guess, I need to step down from social media and hook up some books too. Ya, been faltering on the ‘discipline’ front as well.
Thanks for the minder. 🙂
Hope we are able to follow the goals we set for ourselves 🙂
This proves you are not a listless person.
Haha! That’s a good one, SG 😀
A wonderful list Shilpa, one I have bookmarked and will no doubt refer to often. I’m quite the opposite, the minute I make a list I can be assured I won’t follow it. Going with the flow is my way of life. Look forward to your other posts.
Oops! Is that so? I cant function without lists! 😛
Great things to perform every day! I definitely try to do #4 and #6.
When you cut down on social media you realize that you have so much time at hands to use productively!
Once again a wonderful and insightful post Shilpa. I am not aware of Reiki so can’t say anything about that but all the other points mentioned should be in my to-do list too. I keep procrastinating. ‘Discipline’ tops my list. What i feel worse about is not walking/exercising. It had helped me a lot. now i am at my worst shape and yes still don’t take the first step.
Keep us updated once you strike them off from your daily to-do list.
I am striving to do these things daily but something or the other is ignored. The discipline to tick them all everyday is what I am aiming at!
Hi Shilpa.Nice to read your post. You are a methodical person. I am also trying to be one like you.
😛
At one point, the social media was taking a lot of my time. These days, I have cut the time I spend over there drastically. I walk daily – everyone should do that. But the issue is, I walk somewhere and start eating all kinds of tasty foods! Some days, I walk on our terrace to avoid this temptation 🙂 Let me see what is this reiki. Having lists is good, I used to have it – these days, I seem to remember more!
Destination Infinity
I remember your post about walks but giving in to the temptations of the food stalls too 😀
That’s wonderful that you have lists in your head! 🙂
I love making lists too and you can find some strange things on that. Your post has actually inspired me to write one of my own :Dn
Exactly, I love re-visiting my lists… they always bring some smiles or fond memories 😀
Great list.. Excecise and walking is also on my charts since many days.. But I hardly find time for it.. Hope I do stick to my to do lists as often as you.. Nice to see your dedication towards your list completion.. Keep writing..!!
Walking is my top priority. Hope I am able to stick to it and make it my daily ritual. 🙂
I am really glad you have made a list of all the important things that has to be done without fail. And the attitude of gratitude is the most important one. We should never take the things that we already have for granted, when we acknowledge them everyday, we attract more of the same good things in our life
Thank you, if in some way inspired you to get back to Reiki. Always remember, you have acquired a knowledge to use it , not to let it go waste.
All the best to you Shilpa!
Thanks for inspiring me, Rama. Thankfully, I am able to practice Reiki, daily now! 🙂
Shilpa, you’re a gal after my own heart. Lists drive my life. Much of what you have in your “7” apply to me, too. And oh, the bliss of checking them off! What a fabulous start to the Festival of Words! Hugs!
Aha! You are a list person too, Vidya! 🙂 I feel so calm and relaxed when I have a list in my hand. I know that this work will get done soon! 🙂
Ah Me! When I make a to-do list that is the last I think of those things. It is as though I feel I have done all those things just by making the list 🙂 Hope you work better 🙂
Liked your philosophy, Suresh!
I guess we all should print out this list and tick it, till it becomes a habit too. I haven’t tried Reiki yet. I am going to check out the links you posted. 🙂
School restarts today and back to routine life. Must resume my walks. Ever since I discovered Kobo reader, I am reading nonstop now. I try and stay off Social media as much as I can. Letting Go is the toughest part. I am working on this now. 🙂 Looking forward to more lists. 🙂
Try Reiki, Jyothi. it would be good for your headaches too!
Nice list! I used to make them earlier but these days it is only grocery lists that I make :).
Oh! Why have you given up on making lists, Rachna?
A very interesting list Shilpa, don’t know much about Reiki and thankfully have managed to stay off social media addiction to a great deal…But the other items on your list will surely find a way on mine too 🙂 I might put in being more regular and active on blogosphere in my list:)
Yes, agree with the last pointer you mentioned 🙂
An interesting list there Shilpa, something that also need to start once again 🙂
Yesss….. 🙂
Love that list. I do need to mke that list for myself. I had got down to doing what was needed around May-Jun and for that had cut down on blogging as well as facebook. But then I went to India and everything went awry. I suppose have to get back to that once these seven days are up
Wow! You achieved your goal. Hope you get back to your lists soon again, Bhagyashree 🙂
I’m visiting after a long time and this place looks so changed and beautiful. Love this cosy and warm feel here, Shilpa. I could stay forever!
Your list is quite similar to mine and I do truly wish to incorporate them into my life. Cheers to us and all the best.
Looking forward to the remainder Sevens.
Joy always,
Susan
Thanks Susan and good to see you here!
Wishing you all the success with your lists too 🙂
I’m so not a list person, Shilpa, but I need to list walks and less social media time on my ‘things-to-do-urgently’ mental list! Nothing like starting today, right? 🙂
Oh yes. Both these things are so very vital for our physical and mental well being! 🙂 Hope you are following your to-do list, Corinne 🙂
2, 4 and 6, I must and hopefully I will. 🙂
All the very best, Rekha 🙂
Wonderful list. I am trying on 4,5 and 6 these days though I do not know how long the execution process would take.
Good luck with your goals, Harshita 🙂
I am also a To-Do list person. And I make one almost every week. Then I forget about it.:P
And find it after the month ends & cross everything off. The not-done stuff goes into the next week list. 😀 I call them Lazy Lists.
Still, that’s a good thing to practice! 😀
Aww…you wrote it down for me Shilpa, I need to take a print and post it on the fridge – and I should go do my homework on Reiki as soon as I am done with the reading of blogs 🙂
Good one.
Thanks and good luck with your goals, Laxmi 🙂
that’s a lovely list Shilpa! and gratitude is what made me ponder over it again…that is such an important thing on the list ..to be grateful for the day and everything it brought for us….
True that… gratitude makes us happier always!! We need to practice it more often! 🙂
Hey Shilpa, It’s awesome to see you do good things and even better that you are sharing it for our benefit on your blog. By the way, I love the lovely design here and I don’t seem to have seen it before. There’s a minimalist yet lightly floral feel here. Really, I like it!
Not a list person because I always lose the lists that I make and tend to go in exactly the opposite direction when I do make lists. Mostly, the issue is that I am not disciplined enough. From the list of daily things you mentioned, there are a few that I manage to stick to such as walking, reading and expressing gratitude – those are the vital elements of my life.
Hi Swapna. Glad you like the new look of my blog!
You are on the right track… hope I am able to make walking as a way of life too! 🙂
I need to jot down a list and write only that cut down on social media point bold in it 🙂
haha
love the way u maintain things but as of me I AM ALWYS random 🙁 can never stick to a discipline
lookng fwd to ur posts
Happy sunday 🙂
Social media time has to come dramatically down for me too!
Love your list. I hear you about Facebook eating up so much time and wanting to read more books. Also about the walking. The days I exercise I always feel so much better. As a Canadian, I’m not that familiar with what Reiki is but it sounds so interesting. I feel privileged to be blogging with all you bloggers from India as I am getting a much broader perspective on the world this way.
Agree, the days, I walk or exercise, I feel so good physically and mentally, but still I am not able to make it as a habit! Do check out about Reiki.
We are glad to meet you too, Cathy! 🙂
Hi…That’s a great list! I have to do list all over the place but never stick to them …That’s my problem…
All the best with yours!
Oh! Hope we both stick to our lists, Aparna 🙂
I don’t know anything about reiki and right now wikipedia page of it is opened in another tab; but as I haven’t read it so won’t comment on that.
I do walk, but it hasn’t benefited me as I thought it would, turns out I need to exercise too. It’s there in my to-do list but I haven’t actually got around to do it. I am such a lazy bum.
I love reading. This year, I am reading a lot. Not just books but also blogs, articles, stories et all. Although I do know that still it isn’t enough and I need to read a lot more than I do now.
Fourth point, I’ve done that already. I don’t worry much about facebook, I check it once a day generally. If I have nothing else to do and I am online then I do check it more than once otherwise I don’t. I have an account on twitter too but I’ve never tweeted. Never felt like it, 140 characters are not my way of saying things, I love my blog more. 😛 😀
I can’t let go. I just can’t. Huge drawback of my personality.
I urgently need to add the last two in my to-do list. ASAP.
You have a wonderful daily must-do list. It made me ponder too. 🙂
I know, you are off Facebook for some periods of time and then are back. Hope I am able to cut down on this too.
Letting Go is difficult at first but when we do so, it helps us a lot to heal and grow. And this I am sharing from my personal experience!
All of seven are my points. And all of them I need to do. The other thing is that I am also a huge list person. In fact I need to write down almost all things! and I too believe they happen only after I write 😀
Wow! Glad that we think alike on this one 🙂
Every 1st is a new beginning. I started a few must-do’s today as well. Good Luck to both of us! 🙂
Good luck to us 🙂
Sigh! Did you write that post for me, Shilpa? Specially the walk, letting go of past things? Seems so. Message taken! 🙂
Wishing you success with your goals too, Naina 🙂
Love ur Seven must do Shilpa. Me too suffer from same social media pangs:)
Cheerz
Vishal
Looks like a lot of us are in the same boat. 😛
Good post Shilpa. Inspires me to create a list of my own.
Looking for more posts.
Good luck to you too Sugandha 🙂
Wonderful list!
I am just the opposite… no plans and lists work for me.
Wow! 😀
Love your list. I need to work on all those things myself. Reiki does sound intriguing as I know nothing about it here in Canada. Glad it does such great things for you.
You must read about Reiki, Cathy. It is a powerful guiding energy.
I am all for everything on the list except Reiki simply because I don’t know anything about it. Just now I was thinking about gratitude for the life we have. I love my life. I wonder why we don’t say that often [of course when we do]. Rather than thinking about all the many other things we could have or many other places we could be in, I think we must say thank you for being blessed.
There is so much power in expressing gratitude. I am all for it! And if we make it a way of life, our lives would be so blessed and happier! 🙂
Great list.Indeed the whole internet & social media has replaced lot of beautiful things from our life. Still i spare time to go for long walks &i make a point to leave my phone behind.
http://sailorswiferamblings.blogspot.com/2013/09/seven-faces-of-me.html
Glad that you are able to follow the rules you have laid down for yourself, Anu. Great going 🙂
I am an off and on list person. I write the list and then misplace the list. But when my new home was done some 7 years back, i had an organizer where i listed and ticked off many things. But with my grocery list often i put in my bag and it is difficult to fish it out in the store. so i recollect whatever i listed and buy.
Coming to this list, Shilpa it reads more or less like my list. I regularly walk that is because i have started walking with a disciplined friend. so even if i want to miss, i can’t since she motivates me to join her. social media, even i was like you, the first thing i did was deactivate it from my smart phone. I only check now on desk top/laptop that too just once or twice in a day. instead of reiki , i do yoga.
The rest like Reading, let go and discipline even i have to work on. so true about gratitude shilpa.
Deactivating FB and twitter from phone is a fabulous idea, Asha. I must do this. Otherwise, I am off from one screen and next moment, I am looking at another screen 😀
I am a non-list person 🙂 I rarely make list even while grocery shopping 🙂 Walking, reading and bringing in more discipline is some thing I have to work on too. I am not much into gadgets and social media. And I would really love to learn and practice Reiki, as of now my knowledge on it is zero.
Do read up on Reiki, Seena. You can find a lot of info on the web.
I am a completely non list person and I believe in going with the flow. Too much rigidity in my schedule and I will never get anything done because of the pressure. I do formulate some list mentally everyday but don’t stress on it if I am not able to do all the things on that list.
Reading the post I believe the list works for you. Social media eats up a lot of your time so these days I read less blogs but do justice to the posts I read and am active on and off on Facebook.
Liked your schedules and to-do list for yourself. Am inspired. Thanks LP 🙂
gr8 tips… Except reiki all are possible…:P
🙂
Such a wonderful post, Shilpa. You are already disciplined enough to think of such things. Bookmarking this, I’m sure it will help me get a wee bit more disciplined about things. The only thing I do on this list with no issues at all, is reading. Sigh.
Oh yes, you always find time for reading!! Hope I am able to do so too! 🙂
Good luck with it. I need to follow some of them as well 🙂
Thanks Shail 🙂
The day one decide to be greatful,is the day Almihghty stands besides one.
As for social media..hasn’t it already substituted the news papers?Its almost there as a credible media against biased TV channels.?
Actually, it has but time simply flies when one is logged on to FB, Twitter and that’s a lot of time spent on non-productive things!
I think I need to make a list like this now.
Shilpa, that let go lesson is something I too want to master…
Of course, Yoga will be there in my list…
Tell me about Reiki…
If you are into Yoga, that’s great. Reiki is another form of energy healing. Do read up about it!