The first of every month, my Google Calendar emails me a gentle reminder to “PAY YOUR CREDIT CARDS!!!!!!!!!”. This digitalized ribbon-around-the-finger also pops up on my iPhone. How they synced together I don’t quite know. But, what I do know is that I have the worst mental capacity for checking things off my ever-growing “To-Do” list.
Some people climb Mount Everest. I somehow finally remembered to set up my 401k the other day and felt on top of the world. I still have yet to roll-over my old one, but that requires another phone call, with a phone number that I have carried around in my purse for the past month, but have somehow forgot to fish out.
I have a daily planner that I don’t open on a daily basis. I stick post-its all over my desk at work, read them over and over, and take mental note to do what the post-it says later. I email myself memos in ALL CAPS. I’ve even asked Siri to set a 10:30 am reminder for me to call and report the monthly Metrocard that I lost because the MTA will reimburse you some of the money (I know, right??) but still–haven’t done it yet.
I take more time setting reminders that it would take me to complete the task at hand.
The problem is that either I don’t have much of an organization system, or I’m 28 years old going on 5 years old, with my mind still resetting to a time when my biggest responsibility was trying not to lose a quarter I had in my pocket for a cupcake sale at school.
All this time, I thought it was just me. That I just lacked the ability to be on top of my personal business. That I can easily go the extra mile at work or taking care of a friend of family member, but for myself, I feel the weight of effort.
Then I saw this.
In a post titled, “This Is Why I’ll Never Be An Adult,” the writer has a similar problem, and by the way this link ran like wildfire among my friends’ emails, I’m not alone.
Instead of getting down on myself for not feeling like a responsible adult, it’s better to focus on what you can control–not surpassing your capacity for responsibility. If taking out the garbage when it stinks is too much, then light some candles and take it out tomorrow.
(Kidding, kidding. That’s gross. Don’t tell CP I said that.)
Will this chart help my to pay my credit card bills on time? Nope. Not even a little bit. But at least I had fun stalling my “To-Do” list for the moment by writing a blog post.
Confessions Of A Splenda Stealer 