There are more movies than you can ever watch, more books you can ever read, and more sports than you can ever master. You must make peace with this.
It’s hard. I know it’s hard. We’re finite players in an infinite game. But a bucket list will only wear you down.
I make those lists all the time. I save movies I want to watch, articles I want to read, and don’t even get me started on books. I even put them in notes all over the place only to have to consolidate them later. I create many buckets, and I put too many items in each of them. The result? I’m carrying a lot of heavy buckets!
The problem with to-do lists for the fun things in life is that when the time comes to have fun, the lists feel like work. Which of these thousands of movies should I watch? Which of these dozens of games should I play? If you’ve ever spent 30 minutes trying to pick a movie, a third of which you could have watched in that time, you know FOMO can destroy even the most joyous of activities.
The solution is to toss out the list or, at the very least, be disciplined in only using it when you really need it. Don’t grab three movies off IMDb to watch on the weekend. You’ll end up with five new ones on there by Monday, and it’ll make your weekend feel less relaxing. Anything can be strenuous if we make it so.
Whether it’s in the world of work, self-actualization, or fun, it is always you vs. infinity – a battle you cannot win, except by stopping to treat it as such. Go with the flow, do what you feel like, and enjoy the infinite game. Your bucket will always be there to glance into, but, most likely, you’ll find there’s always plenty to do even if you don’t.