Paperwork: I might have to add ‘feel more guilty’ to my to-do list

John Foster Dulles has me thinking about my wheelbarrow.

I came across something he said: “The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it is the same problem you had last year.”

I won’t get into Dulles or his politics, especially as secretary of state under President Eisenhower, but that quote hit home. I do have a list of “problems” that do not go away.

I have lots of examples, but my wheelbarrow comes to mind. Each time I drag out the heavy thing to use, the wheel is flat. For obvious reasons. I can see rubber flapping around the outside. But, if I pump it up, it works fine. For a while.

So I pump and yell at myself, “Ya know, a new tire would fix this problem.” A problem, as Dulles speaks to, that I had last year. And maybe the year before.

I choose, however, the quick fix. This likely will continue until the quick doesn’t fix. Then I will be angry at you know who. (It won’t be John Foster Dulles.)

Diving deeper into this dilemma, I realize I’m swimming in a sea of similar “problems” – those that linger on the to-do lists I keep updating and revising.

They do not all have a quick fix. They remain on my list, and I groan each time I see them. But now Dulles has me questioning my to-do lists. Why do I keep noting such problems? Perhaps keeping them as a problem to be dealt with is the problem.

When I say problems, you know I’m talking about things I think I should do that I do not do, and that’s a problem.

Perhaps I should assess the worrisome things left undone. As Dulles says, I should question a problem that keeps coming back to the table. In other words, why has it not been fixed yet? Or in other words, fix the darn thing.

But ... I’m still wondering if part of the bigger problem is the to-do list itself.

I keep to-dos on a list so I don’t forget. But I still ignore stuff that I feel I should be doing. Here’s the ugly truth. Things don’t get done because I do not want to do them. I mean do them right now. Or today. Or tomorrow, but maybe next week I can get right on that task. See how that works?

Is this procrastination? Laziness? I don’t know. Not sure I care, but then ... why do I keep reminding myself what I am not doing? If there are serious problems, I deal with them quickly. (Using my definition of “serious” and “quickly,” of course.)

So what if I give my to-do list a serious edit? If it’s been undone for a year, then admit it will never be done. What would happen then? Maybe there’s some life advice in that. If you feel pulled down by a problem, ask yourself why it’s a problem. Perhaps it remains because you can’t let it go. What if you just let it go?

Ug. This feels like another quick fix. Truth is, I will keep doing to-do lists with undone tasks that are aging. I can say I will try harder but Dulles has a response for that. (See quote.)

But hey, I now have the info I need to buy a new wheelbarrow tire. I’m nervous about getting the right tire, but this problem will be solved.

Yes, it will. It’s on my to-do list.

• Lonny Cain, retired managing editor of The Times in Ottawa, also was a reporter for The Herald-News in Joliet in the 1970s. His PaperWork email is lonnyjcain@gmail.com. Or mail The Times, 110 W. Jefferson St., Ottawa, IL 61350.