Hello, 2009 Bucket List. Remember Me?

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Isn’t it funny how we are? I was just looking through my 2009 bucket list. Okay, before you flip out and jump to the conclusion that this is my Things-To-Do-Before-I-Kick-The-Bucket in 2009, let me explain why I’m using the term Bucket List (as inappropriate as it may appear to be):

• I don’t like the word ‘resolutions’. It’s too pompous, highfalutin. “Oooh, look at all my Resolutions, which I Resolve to do.” So serious, so strong, so resolute, so firm, so purposeful. Since I’m none of those things, I figured aiya, forget the Resolutions, honey.
• I like the word ‘bucket’. Okay, moving on!

So anyways, where was I? Oh yes, I was flipping through my journal (yes, I have one) and was looking at my January 2009 entry. I had lots of ‘buckets’ I wanted to kick. I had 8. And I say we’re funny because out of the 8, only one was related to work – a bucket which had already come to pass, though not in the exact way I’d envisioned (cue: Dan Gilbert and the great concept of synthetic happiness). The other 7 were related to a whole bunch of other stuff from hair to travelling to hiking, running to reading to um – yes, this is weird – moisturising (don’t ask).

But the point of this entry isn’t about my Buckets. It’s about how our priorities get screwed up too readily. It’s just strange that the things I really, truly wanted to do, which I had listed, weren’t the stuff I spent the majority of my time doing. Instead, 80% of my time is spent on the single work-related bucket (which shall, from henceforth, be referred to as Bucket No. 8), leaving me with 20% to spend on the other 7 buckets.

Isn’t that how life usually is? We have all these things we want to do and half of them aren’t even big grand things like conquering Everest. Half of them are just little regular things like say, catching up with a friend once a month or listening to a talk on www.ted.com once a week or whatever. But instead of channeling energy to these things, we let ourselves get swept up in the Great Tide of Life (more popularly known as the Great Tide of Work).

“I’ll get around to these buckets once Bucket No. 8 lets up,” we tell ourselves … but Bucket No. 8 never lets up. That’s why it’s called Full-Time Employment.

So what’s the moral of the story? I’ll give it to you:

1. Don’t wait until things let up to do what’s important to you. There will never be a perfect time. Being a perfectionist suffering from bouts of OCD, this is hard for me to grasp, but I’m learning.
2. Work is work. Work is not life. For someone like me who has all the textbook symptoms of one who’s veering dangerously on the edge of workaholism, this is a mantra I need to keep repeating. My ex-boss used to say, “Life is short and then you die.” That’s a piece of really good advice, don’t you think?
3. Keep up the lists; they’re good things. The concept of list-making has won itself many advocates and, at the same time, detractors. IMHO though, they do work. Sure, I may not have done all that stuff I’d listed early this year (not yet anyway), but my list exists to remind me that I still have half a year left and hey, honey, get cracking. If nothing else, it’s a great reminder.

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Tags: bucket, goals, important, list, motivation, resolutions, work