I learned something a couple of years ago that I’ve applied pretty well since then: you will never finish everything you need to do.
I put this sort of learning in the category of Really Important Stuff We Should Have Learned in School. Like how to change the oil in your car (well maybe you did learn this but probably not at school). Or, how not to get in arguments with your significant other about differences in driving styles while confined to your car. Or, how to cook poached eggs.
The good thing about being completely okay with an untidy desk or an incomplete to-do list is that you might then be able to go sit in the sun (21 windless degrees at midday), walk in the bush, make yoga practice a priority, or have time to ring a friend.
Actually, the advice I was given was: “even when you die you will still have somethings left undone”. Its not an excuse for being slack. A friend who has terminal cancer says, “on the one hand, I can’t afford to make plans, but on the other hand, I can’t afford not to.
All this by way of saying, my desk is not tidy on a Friday evening, but I will have the weekend off to ride my newly- serviced bicycle, walk on the beach, connect with my sweetheart, and, you guessed it, Saturday morning yoga.