STYLE Savvy: The Beauty of a Backwards To-Do List

Lisa Hess finds unexpected insight about productivity through a backwards to-do list. 

Summer days are filled with so many things to do and, once I turn the calendar to August, the coming semester can no longer be ignored, so the list grows. When this happens, I of course do the responsible thing, buckle down and get to work on checking things off my list.  

Or not.   

Here’s what I did on a recent August day.   

• First, though it wasn't intentional, I took the morning off which it seems, set the tone for the day. I also 
• sorted through a few things that needed new homes and put them there; 
• met with the textbook representative to talk about kids and college and, oh yeah, set up my online textbook; 
• played Words With Friends and various New York Times games (see also: took the morning off);  
• chilled out in my sunroom, through both sun and thunderstorms; 
• texted with friends; 
• read a chapter in a book of writing exercises (re-discovered when I sorted through those things needing new homes); 
• did laundry; 
• listed a few gratitudes in my gratitude notebook; 
• mulled over a few new writing ideas; 
• considered working on my jigsaw puzzle, but never quite got to it; 
• read an article about Prince Harry in People Magazine; 
• cut up another issue of People to use in my collages; 
• finished up some contracted work ahead of schedule, and made progress on a the next section; 
• looked for gossip (related to that chapter I read in the book of writing exercises – honest!);  
• got a $3 drink at Starbucks; 
• kept my promise to myself to write more in my idea book; 
• enjoyed phone calls with my daughter and my dad; 
• browsed online for a bookshelf that may or may not be a good idea;  
• checked email a bunch of times without deleting nearly enough from my inbox. 

And the verdict is?  

There was some actual work and productivity in there, but it was well-camouflaged by procrastination and non-essentials. And you know what?  

I’m not sorry.  

The night before, I’d gotten on a roll and worked well into the evening on the contracted project, which was why I could turn it in ahead of schedule. Consequently, when morning came, I was ready for the break I hadn’t taken.  

So, I listened to my mind and body and took the break, even though that wasn’t the plan.  

By lunchtime, I was feeling guilty, and that’s when I created the first draft of the list above, which I call my backwards to-do list. It was only then that I realized two things: first, there was value in the things I’d done, even though they weren’t the things on my list. Second, by listening to my body and mind, I did what I needed to do instead of what I was supposed to do and, by early afternoon, I was ready to dig in again. That’s when I turned in the completed section of my project and powered forward on the next part.  

At the end of the day, I added the rest of my activities to my list and realized that everything that was important had, indeed, gotten done, and a couple of other important things had found their way, unbidden, onto the list.  

Productive isn't always best

I’ve written about backwards to-do lists before as a way of proving our productivity to ourselves, but this summer backwards to-do list reminded me that sometimes, productivity isn’t the best way to measure our days. Looking back over this particular backwards to-do list, I saw something else.  

Productivity is nice, but balance is better.  

Especially over summer vacation. 

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Copyright 2024 Lisa Hess
Images: Canva