please save me from my to-do list

Does anyone else have the perpetual habit of adding unnecessary tasks to their already extremely long to-do list? To the point where you know it's a bad idea but you just can't stop your hands from typing/writing things down? Allow me to playback the last conversation that went on through my head while driving to work today:

WHAT?!?!?! Who does this?!?!?! I go to cross one thing off the list and end up with 10 more tasks in its place. I'm a cutter by way of my to-do list. And what really kills me the most? I don't actually have to do any of this stuff. Ok, maybe clean up my apartment. It is looking a little gross. But other than that, nothing else should really have a spot on the list. Nothing. My bedroom looks fine. The lamp and nightstand are fine. The whole setup? Completely fine. But for some reason, they continue to show up. I pause for one second at work and BOOM. At least two more things on my to-do list. I'm heading home for the day and WHAM. At least four more suddenly appear. It's to the point where I have 7 different to-do lists (categorized per room/theme, duh) with 71 items listed. Yep, you heard me. Seventy. One.

Another fun fact about my to-do list is that I rarely check anything off. I add it, I make all these unrealistic plans to knock everything out and then I spend the rest of the time either 1) making up excuses for why I can't complete it or 2) looking at the list and thinking "man, I really should get on that". It's sick I tell you. S-I-C-K.

Take today. I tasked myself with 10 (TEN!!) different tasks despite having volleyball games at 7:25 and 8:25 tonight (both about an hour long). And it's not even like they're quick and easy or in dire need of completion:

Condense accessories on dresser?!?! What does that even mean?!?!

Which brings me back to the original question asked at the beginning of this post:

Does anyone else have the perpetual habit of adding unnecessary tasks to their already extremely long to-do list?

And, as if my long winded rant doesn't clue you in enough, I'd also like to know:

Do you have any tips or tricks for maintaining a realistic to-do list and preventing you from wanting to pull your hair out?

Consider this my SOS.

abstract painting by Ben Will Studio via etsy