Tuesday, November 20, 2007

To Do

Are you a list maker? I am. Too many. Rarely followed. But when I can mark something off the list, I have such a sense of satisfaction. Some items appear on list after list because I refuse to do them. You know I love "how to" lists and post them frequently. I am not only a list-maker, but I am a list-reader.

Sooo...what do your lists reveal about you? How many different kinds of lists do you make? Not just "to do," but lists of pros and cons, goals, chores, gratitude lists, how to lists, etc. Lists you make, lists you love to read?

Sasha Cagen has a magazine, a book, and a blog -- all about lists. Check out Marge and Mary's Thanksgiving list and Eight Surprising To-Do List Facts, especially number four which is my secretly satisfying habit.

Now I must return to some of the items on one of my current lists!

But first, while I am procrastinating, I discovered this great Procrastination Flow Chart.

And this list that I've been saving for you:
25 Ways to Pamper Your Body and Increase Vitality.

6 comments:

  1. I have recently eliminated to-do lists because they make me so stressed. BUT I do love making/maintaining lists of other kinds. Definitely do the pro and con thing. Also list what's important to me (such as when house-hunting or embarking on a group project of some kind). Keep 'life lists" for birds and plants. Also keep a running list of recurring themes from my dreams.

    I once attended a writing lecture where it was stated that we tend to remember five things about any given place, person or important life experience. So I often make "five things" lists of various kinds.

    And I looooooove 'eavesdropping' on other peoples' lists! Always get a thrill, for example, if I find somebody else's discarded grocery list in the bottom of a shopping cart.

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  2. I make lists and then forget to bring them with me when I shop ! Sometimes, just writing something down on paper helps it stick in my memory.

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  3. Acey -- I'm such an excellent procrastinator that without a list, I would never get around to the necessary things; I'd play or read all day. I love "eavesdropping" on other people's lists, too. Like those left in library books.

    Which reminds me that I failed to include one of the most used of my various lists: the To Be Read (TBR) list(s) that I use for the library, for certain specific topics, for requesting, and for ordering!

    Marie -- I forget to bring them with me frequently and even if I do, sometimes I forget to refer to them. Sad. :/

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  4. I live and die by my lists. I have the "perfect" notepads left like gremlin droppings all over the house, in any conceivable place I might compulsively have the need to write something down. Lists for the store, lists of things to look up when I get back to the computer, lists of things to tell the kids if I ever see them again, lists of things to do, etc. And fistfuls of old lists in my purse, usually with alternate lists on the other side of them, some written weeks or months apart.

    And my own dirty little list secret is that I design my quilts with lists. No kidding. An entire quilt design might consist of "dark blue, squares, jazz, diagonal, stripe, metallic, frame, sax" and a full-blown quilt will result. No sketches or lay-outs or anything but a list of words. If I do any more planning than that, I never make the quilt.

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  5. I find that I get more done when I make lists and check them at breakfast so that I am focused on which tasks to do. However, I am falling prey to that disease of age, I keep getting sidetracked by other things that need to be, and/or I forget what I started to do and get sidetracked to something else. I love my little HP iPaq because it holds more lists in less space than my previous notebook planners.
    I love that Procrastination Flow Chart! Someone has been spying on me.

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  6. Delta -- :) I do the same--scatter pads and post its around in case I need to write something down.

    I think you should definitely keep the lists that help you design your quilts!

    Fran -- I agree. My ability to get sidetracked starts early, and I need to keep focused. I thought the same thing about the Procrastination Flow Chart!

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Good to hear from you!