Tips to kick start your bucket list tasks

Making a start

Have you seen any of my Bucket Lists? Have you got your own bucket list tasks to complete?

A number of accumulative tasks make an appearance on mine. On both my 40×40 list and the Kettle List there are challenges that require a bit more long term work. This is something of a double-edged sword in terms of ‘mission completion’. 

I am able to chip away at some of the tasks. Tasks like my ’50 random acts of kindness’, or ‘seeing 50 special clocks’. But it often feels like I am not actually getting anything ticked off.

It has been over 2 years since the start of the Kettle List. I have only officially completed ‘Visit Japan’ and ‘Carry out 50 hours of volunteering’. (Which I really need to write up!) Even when I complete tasks on the 40 x 40 they really are only slowly adding to the total.

This year, for example, I have ticked off “#14 Drive a Car” as well as passing my theory test. I had a go on a zipline at ‘Wild Place’. Even made a few more cranes for my Senbazuru, and will soon be having a spa day.

A quick catch up

This is why I have not lost heart. Under the surface, I am ferociously working away. Lots of little things are happening.

I felt it was time for a bit of an update There are also a few tips to help you get your own bucket list ticked off too.

A glance through my list will bring up a number of tasks which are going to take me a lot longer than one day, or one trip, to complete. This was intentional – I need the list to be challenging after all; it is one of the main rules of ‘Bucket Lists’.

Here are a few examples:

1. Get Flexible
2. Visit 50 places of worship
3. Take 365 pictures – one a day
4. Complete the 50 things to do before 11 3/4

There are plenty of others, some even appear on my 2019 Focus list , so here is how the list is going at the moment.

Items from the Kettle List:

#3 Pass my driving test:

Fresh from the victory of passing my Theory test, I am looking to book my actual driving test for some time in August or September. I may even possibly step up the number of lessons. This is because an hour a week feels like slow going, and I often spend the first 10 minutes or so reminding myself what to do. I’m not sure that I want to go out with the family just yet – it stresses me out watching them drive, much less listening to their moaning about my attempts.

It is entirely possible that they would do more to discourage me than rather than encourage. This is one task I really hope to get ticked off the list this year, so should I fail my test, I fully intend to put in for another go as soon after as possible afterwards. They cost about £60 to enter, and I will also have to pay out for my driving instructors car, as I will be using that. It will certainly be cheaper for me to pass it straight off!

#24 The Thompson Quilt

One of my friends has recently bought herself a sewing machine and has been given a metric ton (possibly a slight exaggeration) of material. She has very kindly kept back some bits for me, and I am hoping to get started on a few squares towards my quilt. The plan is to have a square for each year from 1994 – which would make a rather nice 5 x 5 size if I work up to 2019. Each square will feature a key event from the year in question: getting married, buying a house, kids, holidays, that kind of thing. As I hope to hand applique the squares, I could get on with that, and then sew the whole thing together once I have done them all. I will have a go at drawing out some ideas and see what I can come up with.

#40 Complete a senbazuru – Make 1000  origami Cranes

This is definitely a long term one! I have been slowly but surely getting these done, although I find I still need the video to watch to complete the process. You would think after making 30 or so I would know what I am doing. I did enlist the Guides when we had a ‘Spring’ themed evening at my unit, so my numbers are increasing, although to get 1000 folded by 2027 I was supposed to be averaging about 100 per year.

I have 30 currently so 970 left to go – which is an average of 122 per year going forward! Really need to get folding!

Items from the 40 x 40

It’s a bit meta, but I need to complete these tasks, within a task, as it is part of #2 of the Kettle List: Complete my 40 x 40. So even if I complete these I am still only partway towards declaring a Kettle List task done. However every little helps

#11 Visit every Ceremonial County in England

I had high hopes for this one when I wrote it on my 40 x 40, even though it was slightly ambitious for a non-driver. However, there was a dramatic drop in the UK travels as soon as I declared this task. I literally went no-where on the run-up to my 40^th, not even my customary, annual trip to London. However, 2018 was a good year as we were able to tick off a huge swathe of southern counties.  We travelled to Milton Keynes and I ticked off indoor skydiving, and we also got to finally visit the medieval fayre in Colchester that I have wanted to attend for the last 13 years or so! 

The rule was I had to visit every county after I added the task to my 40 x 40 list; I couldn’t just say ‘Oh I have been to Blackpool, so Lancashire? Tick.

I am currently 14/46, and I am eagerly eyeing up Hereford and Worcestershire, which are so tantalising close to us; maybe if I can pass that driving test?

Tips for getting over Bucket List Ennui

“This is all very well Polly,” I assume you are thinking. “But you promised us some tips on getting some of the items on our lists ticked off”. Don’t worry it’s coming up now.

I know exactly how it feels – You’ve written your list – even did the whole EBI thing to make it more challenging, but now you feel like there are so many things on there that just won’t be happening for at least a few years, in fact, you have become a bit bored with the whole thing. They’ll get done if they get done…

Providing you haven’t filled your list with overly expensive ideas, or skills to learn that may take you a few years, there is no reason why you shouldn’t get started on working on your list today.

Break the task down:

One of the tasks on my list is to visit L.A. We are finally going to make that happen this year. But a trip that big needs major planning and saving for. Even if you don’t believe you will be able to go on a major trip in the next year or two, there are a number of things you can start doing towards it. You can look into potential accommodation options, you can look into prices, maybe even plan an itinerary as if you were going. I have lists for things to do in countries I have no intention of visiting in the next couple of years – but then I do like making lists!

Sometimes the act of planning will make you realise that the bucket list tasks are a bit more achievable than you thought. Why not plan as if you were going to do it?
What is involved? Are there websites you can bookmark for future use? What would you need to put in place before you can tick off this challenge? Will you need to save up some money? How are you going to do that?

By asking yourself these questions and by breaking it down into a series of separate tasks, you will discover aspects that you can get done now. If you hope to volunteer abroad with animals, have you looked into local opportunities to grow your current skill set? Are there courses you could do, so that you will be better prepared when you finally have the time to go? Even if you don’t go abroad in the end, you will never regret gaining new skills or developing new ideas.

Trial Runs

Suppose that one of your tasks is to backpack alone around Europe, or to fly abroad by yourself. Perhaps you want to own an expensive designer handbag, or maybe even design your own dress. These are all big asks, that will take a lot of planning and no small amount of money. But what if you carried out a cheaper practice run?

While you may not currently have the time to commit to a full backpacking trek, you could try somewhere local. This way you can see if it is something you really want to do, while in a safer environment, closer to home. If you decide it is not for you, it doesn’t have to stay on your list. If your weekend of lugging a bag onto trains and into a youth hostel in your own county has put you off of the idea, then it has been worthwhile. Better to know these things sooner rather than later.

The same can be said with flying somewhere; price up a local internal flight . If you then decide you are not enjoying it, you can get a train or coach home. You can’t do that if you went all in and took your first-ever flight to the other side of the world!

Even designer bags can be hired for the day or weekend. And there are inexpensive courses to try out making simple garments, like skirts. This might be an idea before investing in a sewing machine and kitting out the spare room as your studio.

I won’t say this often but think smaller. A trial run will let you know if you are on the right track. It will let you know whether it is worth investing the time and energy in the bigger picture. Maybe you may want to adapt the task to something more achievable for you.

Over to you

What one task can you do today towards your Bucket List? If you still haven’t written one, check out this post and get started on that.