From To-Do Lists to Freedom Lists

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

Hey friends!

Today, I’m proud to feature a guest post from my friend

Veronica Llorca-Smith

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Veronica is one of my favorite creators on Substack. She blends personal development, productivity, and writing advice on her publication, The Lemon Tree Mindset, in a way that feels very genuine.

But the thing I love most about her is how she’s started publishing her articles and Notes in Spanish.

This says a lot about her character, actually.

Most of the time, platforms like Medium and Substack cater exclusively to an English-speaking audience. Veronica has actually stuck her neck out a little bit and been the first to help Spanish speakers break through on these popular platforms in a meaningful way.

It’s kind of a risk. It’s a labor of love. It’s a project from someone who cares about representation—seemingly more than the platform she actually writes on!

It’s a small market—at least for right now—because so few Spanish speakers know about Substack, it seems. Most of the time, writing coaches wouldn’t bat an eye at a project if it weren’t highly lucrative financially.

I love creators who, instead of just doing something to make a ton of money, or go viral, are trying to make a positive difference, despite the fact there might not be a lot in it for them.

That’s how I know Veronica is one of the real ones, deserving of your subscription (if you want), and a follow.

Thanks Veronica! I’ll pass it over to you now.

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Tom is one of my favorite writers on Substack, and it’s a pleasure to be his guest this week to share something that has nothing to do with writing yet everything to do with it: freedom.

When I think about productivity, I picture a long to-do list with random tasks that get proudly ticked off as the day goes by. It doesn’t matter how (in)significant the target is: paying the bills, sending invoices, clearing the inbox, editing a draft…Turning a pending task into a completed project triggers instant gratification and a sense of fulfilment and relief.

The placebo effect of productivity.

I confess I sometimes sneakily add a task I’ve already completed to my to-do list, only to experience the pleasure of marking it off with my black pen.

It’s funny how the longer the list is and the more items we conquer, the more productive and successful we feel. The hustle culture is weirdly addictive.

But is that productivity worth chasing?

Are we becoming victims of endless to-do lists that are running our lives on auto-pilot operationalizing our time and sucking our soul?

Are we under the illusion of growth only to play the role of personal assistant in our own lives?

When I wrote my latest book, The Anti-Procrastinator (Penguin Random House), I looked in the mirror and the picture wasn’t pretty. Ticking 23 boxes a day doesn’t mean a thing if those boxes are not adding value to your life. By value, I mean the stuff that really matters but that often becomes an afterthought: happiness, joy, fun, fulfilment.

There’s often a disconnect between our sterile to-do list and what real success looks like beyond vanity metrics. For me, that’s simple things like rollerblading in the park with my daughters (catch this mamma on wheels if you can!), having a lunch date in the middle of the week with my husband, reading a book in the middle of the afternoon with a lemon and ginger tea, writing an article not because I need it for my business but because I need it for my soul.

The bottom line of the P&L of success is freedom, yet by the end of a busy day, there’s not much left to fill that box with. It’s often a zero-sum game where the prize of being busy is ironically being busier and the winner is still to be found.

To-do lists are effective, but they can become a double-edged sword that make us so freaking occupied that we forget the small things that make life, life, and we end up giving up our more precious assets: our time and our freedom.

This is not about absolutes and virtue signaling. My to-do list is not going away anytime soon. I confess I still need those mundane tasks on it to feel good about completing something, however unimportant that is, and getting that feeling of achievement.

But what if our to-do list could evolve from an operational process to an enabler for more quality time and wellbeing?

What if we could turn it into a freedom list?

I now start my day thinking not only about what I need to do but what I want to do. Walk my dog, Django, finish my day early to play with my kids, go for a long run to train for my half-marathon, call my mom in Spain, write a story without worrying about a content calendar…

In the past, my morning started with a demanding to-do list and I designed my day (and life) around it, trying to steal time from my own processes to find little moments of joy and freedom here and there in between tasks.

Now I don’t have to steal my own time anymore. I don’t have to ask my to-do list permission to do a 20-minute stretch in the middle of the day to decompress. Success is not measured by boxes ticked but by how I spend my day and at the end of that day, only the mirror has the answer and the final verdict.

Not a bloody list that half lost its virginity.

I’m slowly unlearning what I was taught productivity is and reimagining it on my own terms, one stroke at a time. It’s still a work in progress.

Your freedom list

If you have a to-do list next to you, look at it with fresh eyes, thinking about these questions:

What does a successful day look like to you?

What do you need to make it happen?

What can you delete, delegate or automate to be truly productive?

Your to-do list should not be a goal in itself but an enabler. A catalyst for something bigger, a means to a purpose: your freedom.

So, what does your freedom list look like?

For more on productivity, growth mindset and tips for writers and creators, visit The Lemon Tree Mindset 🌳🍋