If I had alcohol now there’s no telling how my body would react. I just can’t risk it

A study revealed almost nine in 10 of us use to- do lists to manage our busy lives. And experts agree they can be transformative – here’s how...

comedy Water on location in St Lucia in the Caribbean in 1984.

After a particularly boozy evening, he and Caine were aboard a bus that Billy almost caused to crash over a cliff. In his own words he was “steaming”, and thought covering the driver’s eyes would be funny.

Horrified superstar Caine had to intervene to prevent the bus from careering off the edge of an abyss.

Although he doesn’t miss the booze, Billy does miss his pipe, and admits to a recent relapse. Speaking on the seri e s, which st ar t s t onight, he reveals: “I miss it terribly. I went to light my pipe the other day.

“I hadn’t smoked a pipe for a couple or three years. Jamie, my son, always liked me smoking a pipe.

“He says, ‘ It makes you weird.’. And I said, ‘ On you go, I ’m going to have a smoke’ – and I lit my pipe.

“And I was having a lovely time in the sun, smoking my pipe. And then I heard him behind me. He went, ‘ You’re off your head.’

“I said, ‘ What makes you think that?’ He said, ‘ You’re talking to a wasp’. Aye, and I was.”

The comedian is married to New Zealand a c t r e s s - t u r n e d - p s y c h o l o g i s t Pa m e l a Stephenson, 74. They have been together since 1981 and live in Key West, Florida, where the warm, dry climate helps Billy manage his Parkinson’s disease. The degenerative condition causes tremors and stif fness, and can impact memory and speech.

The couple have three daughters, Daisy, 40, Amy, 37, and 35- year- old Scarlett. Billy also has Jamie, 55, and Cara, 51, with l ate ex- wife Iris Pressagh.

Billy’s children supported him through a dark period in his life af t er h e di s c overed h e had Parkinson’s and prostate cancer on the same day in 2013.

He has since recovered from the cancer but the Parkinson’s has cost him his sense of smell, among other symptoms.

Billy ruminates: “Being unwell is strange. Everybody else is OK and you’ve got this thing that’s wrong... you’re out of step.”

In the UKTV show Billy also reminisces about his days as an apprentice welder in the Glasgow shipyards in the early Sixties.

Of his first day in the job, he says: “The noise. I’d never heard noise as loud as that. The pneumatic guns cutting the metal. I ’m paying for it now with my hearing aids.” Born in 1942 in Anderston, Glasgow to William Connolly and Mary Mclean, Billy, along with his older sister Flo, was brought up by dad William’s sisters Margaret and Mona after his mum left home when he was just four.

At the time his father was serving as an engineer in the Royal Air Force in Burma.

Billy has since revealed that his father, who died in 1989, sexually molested him from the ages of 10 through to 14.

His first taste of fame came courtesy of the shipyard job – but not as an entertainer.

The l anky S c ot was i n a newspaper after surviving a 40ft fall into 3ft of water, earning him the nickname Lucky Bill, for a while at least.

Music, always a refuge f or young Billy, became his living in the 1970s. But, explaining his transition to comedy, he admits: “I had a voice like a goose farting in the fog.”

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Being unwell is a strange feeling... you’re out of step BILLY CONNOLLY ON HIS PARKINSON’S DISEASE

We love a good list, with research from timewatch. com revealing 88 per cent of us regularly use them to manage our lives. And doing so can be life- changing.

“Sometimes we have so much going on we don’t know where to start,” says Dr Audrey Tang ( draudreyt. com), chartered psychologist with the British Psychological Society.

“A to- do list organises your thoughts,” she says. “By writing them down, it gets them out of our heads and we are not overloading our brains trying to remember everything. This stops us feeling overwhelmed and anxious.

“What’s more, research has found that if you simply organise things, you remember them better. Seeing it physically on paper or digitally affects our brains – you’ve written it, you see it, it’s a trigger.”

Here’s how to love your lists…

SET REALISTIC GOALS

There’s no point making elaborate plans that you won’t be able to achieve. Follow the SMART technique, says Dr Tang.

S for specific Be as precise as you can with your goals and resolutions.

M for measurable How can you fit them into your day?

A for achievable Know your capabilities and context.

R for realistic What’s achievable? Don’t think you must do everything in one day.

T for timely Check in with your list and if necessary, tweak it.

“Aim for a list of three achievable things to do each day,” says Sarah Myers, from Clutter Cleansing ( cluttercleansing. net). “Find pockets of time to do them, even if it’s 20 minutes. It’s delegating the time and energy to be focused.”

PAPER VS DIGITAL

So what is the best way to organise our lists – pen on paper, or digitally on apps such as Trello and Google Keep?

“It doesn’t matter as long as you commit,” says Dr Tang. “Even writing something down on a scrap piece of paper or Post- It can help. Put them in one place where you can see them, but not all over the place as this can be overwhelming.”

Another useful source is the Eisenhower Matrix, where tasks are divided into urgent and important. You then sub- divide into do, schedule, delegate and delete.

MIND MAPS

Your list doesn’t have to be linear. Sarah advises: “You can draw your thoughts or create a mind map where a central idea is placed in the middle and associated ideas are arranged around it. This helps to break tasks down into steps or sections.”

ERASE SOME TASKS

Once you’ve jotted your list down, realistically decide if there are things on it you simply don’t have time for.

“So you haven’t got time to cook some elaborate meal for people that are coming, or clean the house like you want to? That’s fine. Remove it from the list,” says Sarah. Delegate tasks to others too.

ASK FOR HELP

If you are still feeling overwhelmed, sharing your list can help.

“Discuss with a friend what needs doing,” says Sarah. “They might be able to help you see the steps. Break it down into what is a priority and what is going to make a difference to you first, rather than seeing this big list of jobs.”

COLOUR CODE

Colour coding can help break down tasks too.

“I colour code on my digital calendar, work is in green and personal in blue,” says Dr Tang. “That helps me see things clearly straight away.”

SEPARATE WORK AND HOME

“It’s really important to keep work and home separate,” says Sarah. Have boundaries.

“If you’ve got a good to- do list that is working, when you’ve finished your day and achieved all the things you set out to achieve,

you can focus on home.”

Writing things down frees us up and makes us feel less anxious and overwhelmed

CHECK YOUR LIST AT NIGHT

And when’s the best time to look at your list?

“I tend to check mine the night before just to get my head around what I ’m doing,” says Dr Tang. “If you want to get up at 6am to do a jog, and you know it’s on the list, have your jogging stuff ready. Take away as many barriers as you can. Keeping a structure means less chaos.”

CROSS THINGS OFF

Crossing things off your list is really important too.

“It gives you a dopamine hit, those happy neurotransmitters,” says Dr Tang. “That sense of completion is very important. If we have that moment of ‘ well done’ we feel more motivated to take the next step.”