The other day a co-worker saw me making a list.
"Wow! That's what I need to do!" he exclaimed.
I mean . . really! Half my day is taken up writing lists. I don't have a blackberry or iphone/touch/pad so it's all done the old-fashioned way. A pen and paper. I usually have a notebook with me, but not always. Really, anything that soaks up ink will do. Sturdy toilet paper, receipts, back of checks, envelopes, hand. The possibilities are endless. When I need to make a list, it needs to be recorded that instant. It's that important!
I have a variety of lists:
Things To Accomplish Immediately
Things To Accomplish By Next Week
Things I'd Like To Accomplish Immediately
Things I'd Like To Accomplish By Next Week
Things I Think I Should Accomplish Soon
Things I Should Have Accomplished in High School
Things I Should Have Accomplished in College
Things I Should Have Accomplished . . You get the modus operandi
Things I'll Never Accomplish No Matter What
Grocery List For Trader Joe's
Grocery List For Zabar's
Grocery List For Local Grocer on The Corner So They Don't Go Out Of Business
Questions To Ask My Son's Teacher At The Next Conference
Questions I'd Really Like To Ask My Son's Teacher But Am Too Afraid To Ask
Realistic Goals
Semi-Realistic Goals
Goals So Unattainable If List Got Published I Could Be Committed
I'd like to pass on some List-Making Tips so your lists can be as productive as possible!
1. Date the list, including the year. Lists have a way of resurfacing. I was speaking elementary Spanish to my son's French teacher. He hadn't had Spanish for two years.
2. Write neatly. Better yet, print. Many times, I can't decipher what I've written. I spend the remainder of the day trying to recall what I needed to accomplish that day.
3. When the goal is accomplished, make a neat check next to it. I've crossed out goals on my "To Do" list so severely, only to waste time later wondering what I crossed out and why I scribbled so angrily. Yet again, another time waster.
4. Be specific, yet comprehensive.
"Call TJ. Tell her you saw her honey w/ another woman."
First and last names always. This list could find a black hole only to resurface two months later. Did you mean your friend TJ or your friend Taylor Jean? Do you mean Honey, her cat, who went missing, or honey in reference to her dirt-bag husband? See, you can never be too specific.
5. Once your hand starts to cramp from your list-making, take a break and do whatever the hell you want to do. And have fun!
