I want to talk again about lists! (see my article from 2 weeks ago, It’s Time to Make Your Some Day Soon list).

This week, I challenge you to start your Done List. In the past two days, I’ve had two conversations about Done Lists. I LOVE a good Done List. Not a To-Do list of what still needs to be accomplished, but a DONE List, of accomplished tasks and completed goals. (Woot Woot!!)

There are lots of benefits to creating and keeping a Done List. Every week I share a Done List with my accountability partner, where I get to share successes from the last week based on my goals. A mini-celebration, if you’d like, with imaginary confetti and fan fare in my head. I get to share my Done List, re-assess what still needs to get accomplished, and craft this week’s plan. But first I get to celebrate!

What are some benefits of the Done List?

• Dopamine boost that comes with a sense of accomplishment;
• acknowledgement of learning;
• release and stress relief from met deadlines;
• a clear conscience!

Have you noticed? Time is passing strangely – the hours pass slowly but the days pass quickly. As the days pass without acknowledgement, our efforts could also pass without notice.

I have been amazed, though, by what people are accomplishing during this Pause Time. Big things, little things. We are all finding new and interesting ways to do our regular stuff, and also new and interesting ways to do new and interesting things. People are growing beyond their comfort zones and stepping up to help as needs require. Way to go, everyone!

Here is a little piece of my own Social Isolation Done List so far (in no particular order)? I…

• successfully made yeast bread after years of telling myself I didn’t know how;
• caught up on my VIRTUS training modules (there were many!);
• took LOTS of Zoom webinars to find out how to host Zoom Webinars;
• presented my first and then many more presentations as Webinars on Zoom (has been on my to-do list for years!);
• recorded and shared a newly created Webinar with a training center just this morning;
• transitioned many in-person clients to virtual organizing and coaching (also on my list for years!);
• cantored for two Masses that were recorded and / or live-streamed for Holy Week;
• made progress on the back-log of my non-fiction reading pile;
• started to learn to play the ukelele;
• attended meetings virtually last week that I can never seem to find time for in a normal week; and
• cleaned up the yard for Spring.

Maybe your Done List is simpler: “Worked, maybe a lot; served others; made it through today; found beauty where I could; reached out and made connections with loved ones.” All important and noteworthy.

The point is, tracking our accomplishments can help us to find positivity and hope in this strange unsettled time. Days are passing without our usual noteworthy experiences – how many birthdays have already been celebrated without the parties, how many events have been rescheduled or cancelled all together? Weekends look different now, and may look remarkably like any other day.

So, my friends, make a conscious decision to create and maintain your Done List this week. Appreciate your own efforts and applaud your own accomplishments, with a little (or a lot of) celebration!