Imagine this. You have finally completed college after 4 years of hard work. It’s graduation day. The president of the university, in full academic regalia, calls your name and holds up your diploma. Then he takes a big black marker and draws an X through your diploma. He then crumples up the hard-earned diploma and throws it on the ground. “What the…?” you think, “This is the thanks for all that work?”
This seems bizarre but this is exactly the way you are treated by traditional task managers. You accomplish something on your list, and it just gets crossed off or disappears. It’s gone, it’s negated without even a simple “congratulations” or “thank you.”
There are infinitely many things you could be doing that move you toward your various goals. You accomplish a couple of them and get to cross them off the list. But the list is still infinite. Why do we focus on this list? It can never be completed. Look instead at the things you’ve done. Experience the joy of accomplishment, rather than being dragged down by the impenetrable morass of potentially useful tasks.
How do you handle completed tasks?