Why Your Bucket List Doesn't Stick, and How to Keep Using It
This article is for anyone who made a bucket list and stopped opening it, or who has made several and given up on each one. This usually happens because the list is being used like a to-do list.
Lists that don't stick have become to-do lists
Think back to a list you stopped using. Each time you opened it, you probably saw a column of unfinished items, and opening it started to feel like a chore. That happens when the list has turned into a list of tasks to get through.
A to-do list is meant to be cleared, and anything left on it bothers you. Items on a bucket list don't have due dates like work tasks do. If "See the northern lights" stays on the list for six months, nothing is late. If you treat a bucket list like a to-do list, you start avoiding it.
Count what you add instead of what you finish
If you keep adding items, you're still using your bucket list, even if you haven't finished any. If you checked off nothing this month but added two items, the list is being used.
When you add an item, a quick one-line note written as soon as you think of it is enough.
Open it in spare moments instead of on a schedule
If you plan to review the list every Sunday, reviewing becomes one more task, and you start avoiding the list again. It works better to open it when you have a spare moment, for example:
- In bed on the first night of a new month
- During a long wait at the doctor's or the hair salon
- While planning a long weekend
Opening it this often is enough. If you look at the list and think, "Right, I wanted to do that," that's what the list is for.
It's fine to delete or rewrite items
Another reason people avoid their list is the idea that once you write something down, you can't delete it. If you reread the list and no longer want to do something, delete it. Changing your mind after some time has passed is normal.
If deleting feels wasteful, rewrite the item instead. For example, if you no longer feel like taking up the piano again, change it to something smaller, like "Listen to one song I used to love." If you rewrite items when your feelings change, you'll keep using the list for longer.
It's fine to leave the list unopened for six months
Even if you don't open the list for a while, everything you wrote is still there. If you open it after six months and one item reminds you of something you wanted to do, that's enough.
itsuka is a wish list app made for people who open their list only now and then. "Someday" is a fine deadline, and the app sends no notifications unless you turn on Deadline Reminders in Settings. We made it this way because going a while without opening the list is normal.
Start by thinking of an old list you stopped using, and copy the items you still want to do onto a new list.
itsukaWish list & bucket list app
