WHY CHECK OFF THE CHECKBOXES?

How many times have you packed a bag to go on a trip, only to fumble through everything because you aren’t quite sure if you did in fact put in your socks? 

Although many of us may not use it we are all aware of the benefits that come with making checklists – putting down and organising things to help you get things done.

Though the joy really comes in with “checking-off” the completed tasks on your ‘to-do’ list. I confess to times when I have entered tasks that had already been completed into my checklist, only to derive the joy that comes from checking it off!

Research shows that checking items off on your checklist releases small amounts of dopamine, which in turn encourages you to keep doing more. To me the proverbial ‘checkbox’ offers that and so much more.

1. Checking off completed tasks, reduces the chaos and anxiety in your mind. You no longer need to keep replaying the same tasks around in your head.

The Zeigarnik effect is a psychological phenomenon describing a tendency to remember interrupted or incomplete tasks or events more easily than tasks that have been completed. It supports the idea that crossing off items on a to-do list removes any distractions from completed tasks and frees your mind for things that are more important. Basically once a task is marked as complete the brain is ready to let it go.

2. When you no longer need to bother with completed tasks, it is a lot easier to focus and plan ahead for the things that need to get done. Each item on your checklist was a challenge (large or small) that was overcome.

In MAMMA-MIYA, your checked-off tasks will contribute to you seeing insights on how you spent your time and everything you achieved that day, week or month. 

As mums, our minds are constantly juggling so many different roles and responsibilities, we are constantly consumed by what we ought to be doing, and what we’ve already done.

Creating daily task lists that are achievable, allows you to go through your days with a certain level of ease.

Seeing everything side by side helps you prioritise and make space for what truly matters to you.