Let’s be honest—most of us treat our to-do lists like sacred texts. We worship at the altar of productivity, hoping that if we just check enough boxes, we’ll finally feel accomplished, complete, “caught up.”
But here’s the thing: your to-do list will outlive you.
There will always be more emails. More errands. More laundry. More projects waiting to be finished. Even when you knock one out, two more take its place. You will never “finish” life.
And that’s not depressing—it’s freeing.
If the list never ends, then the goal isn’t to finish it. The goal is to remember that you are not your productivity. The most important parts of your life rarely show up on the list anyway.
Your to-do list doesn’t include “watch the sunset.”
It doesn’t remind you to laugh so hard your stomach hurts.
It doesn’t nudge you to hug your kids longer, or call your mom back, or sit with a friend in silence.
But those are the moments that actually matter. Those are the things people will remember when you’re gone.
So go ahead, do the work, check the boxes, be responsible. But hold it loosely. Let your to-do list be a servant, not your master.
Because in the end, no one is going to talk about how many tasks you completed. They’ll talk about how you lived, how you loved, and how present you were.
Your to-do list will outlive you. Relax. And live.