I’ve noticed this weekend that a lot of my friends are in a tough place. The extensions of the shelter in place/stay at home/lockdown for their respective states are really starting to wear on them.

There is a lot to do, and with so many things to get done, it is difficult to pick a starting place. Yes, a lot of us are using this time to get our honey-do lists complete, but for some, it is still tough. With so much to do, how do we decide what should be done first?

I’ve always been a fan of starting the most difficult project, or one I just absolutely don’t want to do, first. Once I get that done, I’ll go to the next hardest, and so on. Tackling the toughest one shows me that I can do anything. Yes, there are times where your tasks have to be done in a specific order, those ones you just follow step-by-step until they are all done.

Set time limits for how long you will work at something before taking a break. Yes, we have two fences to put in for our new garden, and we could absolutely get them all done in one day if we did not sit back and take a break. We did the interior fence posts, and then took a lunch break. The exterior posts were next, and we found that the posts were breaking when they were dropped on the ground or as they were being beaten into the earth, so that job was over quickly. We decided to switch modes and head over to the hot house and start installing the windows (well, Squatch and FIL did; I climbed into the window wells and removed the 2 dead mice and 1 dead chipmunk that were in them).

The fence is still on hold until FIL runs into town to return the broken posts and pick up new ones. Could we put up the chicken wire on the interior fence? Sure, but we would rather get all posts set up first, so we’re not scratching ourselves as we move around. Once we get all posts in, the interior gate and fence wire will go up, then the exterior gate and fence wire. By then, we should be good to go and start transferring our seedlings into the garden. If not, once the hot house is complete, we will move the seeds outside.

Now, you see, this is what I’m talking about when it comes to finishing the to-do lists. We have a lot of stuff to get done, but we cannot just do everything all at once, and others need to be done in a specific order. Even when we do follow the order of what needs to be done, we cannot always keep going. It is these crossroads that really affect us all differently. For me, I’m ready to see what else needs to get done and start it. Some just say “Well, we need X, Y, and Z to go any further, so we will just have to wait until we get those.” Others are like “Let us sit back, take a break, and re-group. We can decide what to do next after we clear our heads.”

How are you holding up with all of your to-do or “honey-do” lists? Are you running into issues getting everything done, or actually getting started? What is holding you back from getting your work done?