Your To-Do List? Embrace Radical Optionality.

Because of how much we care (and dream), we soulpreneurs can sometimes (or often!) be overwhelmed by what seems like a never-ending to-do list. We are abundant with ideas, and a strong desire to serve. This can lead to a list of tasks that feels like a source of pressure, rather than what it’s meant to be… a tool for progress.

If you’ve been following my content, you’ll know that I’m all about working lightly. So if you have a full to-do list, my recommended path forward isn’t to “buckle down, work harder and faster”… but instead, to practice shifting your relationship with tasks.

The Foundational Shifts

Before being able to sustainably change your behavior, you must begin to intentionally shift your mindset.

1. Embrace Radical Optionality. Recognize that beyond the absolute essentials for your well-being — adequate sleep, nourishing food, and peace of mind (through your spiritual practice) — everything else is truly optional.

I gave a short pep-talk about this to my course students that might interest you too: Everything Is Optional.

When you internalize this, your to-do list transforms. It is no longer a list of requirements, but a menu of opportunities. They are optional.

This single shift dissolves an immense amount of self-imposed pressure.

2. Question Your “Requirements”. Many of our tasks feel like obligations, but it’s crucial to look closer.

• Recognize the Fear Shadow: Often, the mental burden we place on a task is far heavier than the actual effort of doing it. This is the shadow of perfectionism. The practice is to approach the work “lightly” and continually release the need for a perfect outcome!
  
  
• Challenge the Task Itself: Many so-called “requirements” are simply stories we tell ourselves. What if you keep postponing a task, day after day? That might be a signal from your intuition… What if you gave yourself the gift of spaciousness, by bravely dropping these self-imposed chains? You might discover a much more creative and joyful way to reach your actual goals.
  
  

3. Reframe True Obligations as Spiritual Practice For tasks that are external requests from others, ask the essential question: “Is this truly mine to do?”

• If the answer is “No,” your path is to renegotiate. This could mean declining, or offering to help in a different way that better aligns with your unique strengths and joys.
  
  
• If the answer is “Yes,” your path is to reframe. See the task not as a burden, but as a spiritual opportunity. It is a chance to bring presence, joy, and any other virtue you respect into the process of doing the work, turning a simple task into a practice of mindfulness.
  
  

A System for Spaciousness

A new mindset requires a new system. The old model of an ever-expanding to-do list is broken. Here is a new way to operate.

The Core Principle: Calendar Over To-Do List The fundamental flaw in most productivity systems is relying on the to-do list as the master plan.

• The To-Do List: An infinitely expandable container for “nice-to-do” items. It is not grounded in the reality of time, so it can grow forever, creating stress.
  
  
• The Calendar: A sacred, finite space grounded in reality. This is the true home for what’s important.

Your to-do list should be demoted. It is no longer your boss. See your to-do list as a simple set of reminders for things that might need to be scheduled on your calendar.

The Operating System: “Capture, Categorize, Calendar” (CCC) This is the simple, memorable system that puts the “Calendar Over To-Do List” principle into action.

• Capture: Allow yourself to capture ideas and tasks freely as they arise. The goal is not to suppress input, but to manage it.
  
  
• Categorize: At the end of each day, practice a “to-do list triage.” Sort captured items into relevant project folders. The most critical action here is to remove the due dates from almost everything. Items without due dates live in a “Someday/Maybe” sanctuary — a place for inspiration, not obligation.
  
  
• Calendar: Schedule your true commitments — self-care, deep work, non-negotiable obligations — as time blocks on your calendar. You can then review your project folders during scheduled, spacious moments, treating them as a menu of optional opportunities.

Learn more in this blog post: Capture, Categorize, Calendar.

By implementing these mindset shifts and the practical CCC system, you can transform your to-do list from a source of daily overwhelm into a tool that genuinely supports a spacious, creative, and fulfilling life.

I look forward to hearing if this helps you!