A “To Do” list can be a wonderful source of anxiety. It can provide endless restless nights and days of indigestion. If you are not getting enough anxiety out of your To Do list (or you just don’t have one – shame on you), then you are not doing it right.
First, you’ve got to keep that list current with everything you think you have to do. Assign a numerical code (1 to 10) to each item where ‘1’ is not worth worrying about and ‘10’ is a real sleep buster.
Now you have your worry index which is the sum of all the worry ratings of the items on your list. This provides an objective measure of how much you should be worrying.
Get the ‘1s’, ‘2s’ and ‘3’s done right away. They are not worth worrying about. Put off doing the ‘8s’, ‘9s’, and ‘10s’ for as long as possible. They will serve to wake you up in a cold sweat night after night.
The middle numbers are where you need to focus your worries. You could get these done but all that would do is reduce your worry index.
Post your To Do list right where you can see it all the time. In fact, post it multiple places. Put is on your Face Book page and on your cell phone.
There is no end to the creative ways you can use a To Do list to remind you to worry.
It’s hard to find knowledgeable people on this topic, but you sound like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks