Lists

I have a few more news things to write about, but they all deserved their own longer entry. I actually have a list of things to post about, so posting about lists is actually kind of funny to me.

I am a list person. I have my daily to-do list that helps keep me from accomplishing absolutely nothing during the day. Without a list I can sit there all day thinking of all the things I need to be doing, feel completely overwhelmed about it, and not get any of it done. Or think about all of the things that need to be done, feel completely overwhelmed about it, try to do all of them at once, still not get any of it done.

So I write lists. And I make them very detailed. And I make them doable in one day. And I don’t get upset if I don’t get one or two things done. I’ve found that I can’t write lists for more than one day, like a weekly to-do list. It has to be daily. And it has to be detailed so I can cross stuff off quickly too.

I also try to organize my daily list into the things that are most important or the things that need to get done first. That doesn’t mean they happen in that order, just that I think about them in that order. So my list always starts with scriptures. And the second thing on my list is exercise. Then usually work or homework stuff. And after that things like take out the trash or fold laundry.

I also keep a running shopping list. As I think of things I need at a store I write them down. That way I can look at my list page (I keep to-do and shopping lists on the same document on my Palm pilot), and see if “go shopping” is something I need to add to my list or not. It also means I’m less likely to forget something when I go to the store, and if I did forget something, I just add it to the list to get next time. I also generally only get the things on my list, so I save money that way too, less impulse purchases.

And that’s why I thought the NPR story about a list of reasons why people make lists was interesting. 10 Reasons Why We Love Making Lists.