DTDL is not a function of location – Paul Chika Emekwulu

“I have a lot to do. A lot of things to be done are demanding my attention. I don’t have an idea where to start,” said Mr. Okeke a teacher at a local high school. A lot of people (men and women are in similar situations like Mr. Okeke.

If you find yourself in this situation, it is time to start using what I call a DTDL. As old as I am I can’t live without a DTDL.

What is DTDL ? DTDL stands for Day to do list. A Day To Do List is a list of things you can start and complete either outside the house or around the house.

A DTDL item can be defined as any activity that takes your time and at times your energy.
Any activity that meets that definition is qualified to be a DTDL item.

Examples of DTDL items include:

Laundry, Writing a lesson note, Cooking, Resting, farming, Taking classes, Doing the dishes, Sweeping, Going to the mosque, Class assignment, Jogging, Reading morning papers, Going to the tailor or seamstress, Attending a wedding ceremony, Going to the market, Drawing water from a borehole, Going to the chapel, Going to the oil mill, Giving someone a ride, Bible reading, Visiting a friend, Taking a nap, Getting a rest, Going to the Church, Going to the airport, Attending a burial ceremony etc.

To compile DTDL items, start by asking yourself this question:

What am I going to do today or tomorrow both at the house and outside the house?

DTDL, like an e-list (expectancy list) can make a tremendous difference in your life and those of your loved ones if allowed. DTDL can make a difference in the lives of your children.

A DTDL program when introducs in a home can bring about excitement among those taking part in it. Let the children compile a list of what is to be done and this should be done under parental guidance. Everybody will discover the fun and the benefits in doing so. Parents should take the lead by living by example. When the mother cow is chewing cud, the younger ones are still looking on.

Some of us think that DTDL is reserved for some people in certain parts of a country, certain climatic regions or certain parts of the world. To such people DTDL is a function of location. That should not be so.

In the light of this, while discussing DTDL with a Nigerian housewife named Mrs. Awosika, she said that DTDL is not meant for Nigeria and therefore, is not for Nigerians. She further said that DTDL is for those living outside Nigeria. She also said that her sixteen year old son who was keeping late nights, and in SS2 at the time wouldn’t benefit from DTDL.

Some days after, when presented again with the topic of DTDL she restructured her opinion by saying that DTDL was for government workers. She forgot that as a housewife she does laundry in the house, she cooks in the house, she goes to the market, she makes that important phone call and so on.

In my sixty something years of existence on this planet, I’m yet to see a government worker who doesn’t do some or all of those things she does as a housewife.

Therefore, those DTDL items listed earlier aren’t strictly meant for particular people or certain people living in certain parts of a country or certain parts of the world. Don’t these things depend on individual lifestyle? A lifestyle can be changed, and if a lifestyle can be changed, a life without a DTDL regimen can be changed to include one.

DTDL shouldn’t be a function of where you live, DTDL shouldn’t depend on what you do for a living, DTDL shouldn’t depend on where you do business,
DTDL should be purely an individual thing.