But that has not always made me feel calmer.
A while ago, I realised my to-do list contained all kinds of things that looked like tasks but were actually something else entirely.
“Call X.”
Perhaps what that really meant was:
“I should have done this two weeks ago, and I feel bad about it.”
“Finish the project.”
Perhaps that meant:
“I still have not decided whether I even want to continue with this.”
“Reply to the email.”
Perhaps the problem was not the email but the conversation I was avoiding.
Then it seems a little unfair to call this simply a time-management problem.
Perhaps a long to-do list is sometimes a collection of unmade decisions, unresolved conversations and old promises.
That at least explains to me why some small things can feel so strangely heavy.
Perhaps sometimes you do not need a better task-management system.
Perhaps you simply need to ask what the task really stands for.