Something on your “to-do list” that never gets done.
Saroj, a middle-aged man juggling tasks at home and work, initially found hope in creating a to-do list to manage his responsibilities. However, he struggled to maintain the routine due to feelings of laziness and the burden of strict adherence. Reflecting on his childhood, he recalls the unsuccessfulness of adhering to imposed timetables and the resultant discontent. He realizes that while discipline is crucial, obsessively following lists can lead to frustration. Ultimately, he chooses to focus on diligent work over rigidly adhering to a to-do approach, pursuing goals calmly without self-imposed pressure.
Chalking out a list of works to be finished on a given day, time, or moment is a thing which people often do so that they can finish the tasks without skipping any specific work or items.
Saroj is a middle-aged serving person. Almost daily, he is assigned some tasks both at home and at work front to be completed that day. On the home front, he would get work like fetching something, visiting a relative for a specific enquiry or something and on the work front preparing a statement, sale report or sending letters to clients, et cetera. He endeavours to finish all of them on time and with utmost care.
Some tasks, nonetheless, skip from his mind causing fury at home or getting a verbal thrashing from his boss on the work front. “You did not bring the thing I requested you in the morning,” his spouse often yells at him in the evening soon after he reaches home. It used to be tedious for him to remember everything and meet everyone’s expectations. He was puzzled.
Once, while thinking about it, the idea of making a list of things came to his mind. If he jots down all tasks and make a work-to-do list both for home and office, it can solve the problem, he thought. He felt relieved by the thought. From that day, he started making a list of to-do tasks. It went fairly well for some days, but after that, the routine broke. Partly due to laziness and partly because it seemed a burden on him, the list preparation became irregular and then discontinued. This setup, thus, ran for counted days before collapsing.
Sitting quietly in his mildly lit room, Saroj was contemplating about setting things right once again. His childhood days became lively before his eyes. He remembered how, in his childhood, he was forced to make a “Timetable” to regularise his studies. He was imposed with a timetable by his parents. At times, he was instructed to make it and get it vetted by them. Despite many efforts, he was not able to stick to the timetable. A few days after the timetable was formulated, it was ignored because the topic he did not wish to study or because he did not like the topic to take up at that time and he replaced it with his choicest topic. He would get a severe thrashing for not reading his hated subjects.
He did not want mathematics and language to seem like a burden. Most of the time, Saroj liked studying life sciences, but it was not always possible. For a simple reason getting at least passing marks was necessary to clear the final examination.
Gradually, he realized that taxing by binding himself to a framework would not do. It annoyed him but it also did not work. It gave a sense of freedom, but the quota of thrashing was increased because of not attempting to take the subject because he was poor, or he did not like it.
Discipline is important in life, and it comes with rigorous training and strict observance of rules. Rules are made for the broader welfare and to lead an orderly life. Timetable was like a to-do list for him. Yet, the timetable, he was provided with was lopsided, at least he thought so. He was periodically thrashed as a ritual on the pretext of one thing or the other. This apart, he used to get thumped for not adhering to the timetable.
The timetable was chalked out to impose a restriction so that he takes up the neglected subject as well, and all subjects should be covered equally. It, nevertheless, led to other complications. Excessive thumping and maltreatment started causing him to retreat in himself to the extent that he became timid.
Discipline helps organise oneself in a better way and sometimes people need strict discipline. At times it becomes harsh and unbearable. In military training, for example, strict punishment is given in case of lapses, no matter how petty the lapse was. Apart from instilling a sense of terror in the nascent mind, it shapes the candidate for the impending dangers and hardships of a soldier. It acts as a binding force among each other in a platoon when in a war. “Ustad” in the force know where to mellow down and where not, how severe punishment needs to be given, and what are the human limitations.
Coming out after rigorous training, each soldier becomes tough and well-adapted to a war-like situation or war. An intense feeling of motherland makes them aggressive. They become a ruthless killing machine for the enemy and annihilate them with available weapons or sometimes in face-to-face duel combat. This is the power of training and discipline.
The to-do list is a petty step in keeping oneself disciplined. It helps organise oneself and the tasks. It also prioritises tasks to avoid convolution and messing up the task that jumble up and confusion.
To-do lists are not meant to be ignored or overlooked. If one has created any list of this nature, it is bound to be temporary and needs to do away with after its purpose is finished. It would be futile to call it running, and some of its items are yet to be completed or accomplished. What one needs to do is to completely finish all tasks listed in the to-do list. Either the list is not prepared, but once prepared needs to be diligently completed by ticking off each item as they are completed.
We aim to achieve big things in a specified period. A young person of 20 to 25 dreams of a decent house, a good car, a hefty bank balance, a trip to a foreign destination and so on and so forth. These are his desires. It can’t be a to-do list. The youth works hard to achieve his goals. He will need to prioritise his goals as per his needs and desires. He would achieve his goals one by one through his systematic efforts. If it is a to-do list, which it is not, then after the acquisition of a thing it will be ticked off.
We dream about many things, but ticking off the items doesn’t need one’s permission and will. Things take their time to finish. Making a list and getting persistently frustrated about not getting them leaves to self-denial. It is a negative trait that should be avoided.
Saroj opines that instead of messing things which are out of control, he needs not to swim against time. He doesn’t believe in making a to-do list. Diligently working to get what he desires, he does not get hurt or frustrated when they are not fulfilled. He tries to stay cool and composed because he thinks life is too short to be entangled in an unnecessary web of complications.
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