I've been trying to accomplish at least one nagging task every day. I make a pile and a list (if it's not written down for me, it doesn't exist) and set it on my place at the kitchen table. That way, when I sit down for breakfast, I have no chance to ignore it. I try to choose the most important of these tasks and arrange those at the top. The ones that can wait a bit, usually for lack of money, are towards the bottom. Make an appointment with a new psychiatrist - top of the list. Make an appointment to get the cat's teeth cleaned - bottom of the stack.
Anything that can be completed in less than a minute gets done while I'm eating breakfast. That email I've been thinking about writing for weeks now? Done in 30 seconds and was all of 31 words long. Updating the grocery list so I actually know what to buy? Done.
Broken down into manageable increments like this I don't get the drowning sensation that normally accompanies this ever-growing, never-diminishing pile of to-dos. I've also come to realize that some tasks are always going to be on my list. But by not letting the other items back up I'm able to keep it at a controllable level. There is also a great deal of satisfaction to be had when crossing something off the list because sometimes the hardest part of completing a task is just deciding to do it.
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