Anyone else a list addict? Are you like me and use any excuse to get things down on paper (IT won't cut it in this respect)? Do you love-hate the minutiae of list-making but succumb to it anyway? Are you currently listing for AW20 - the house, the garden, the kids, the presents (Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries etc etc), work, leisure, food, meals....
If I was to be buried with my lists I think the space needed to accommodate us all would be very large indeed. At any one time I could do the rounds of my coats, jackets, cardigans, jeans pockets and turn out half a dozen scrappy cardboard shopping lists. From these I could extrapolate what I still needed to do/buy/get on with and create the foundation of a brand new list.
So, is this a sad waste of time or actually quite an effective way of holding onto one's sanity in a busy world? I guess it depends on your perspective.
We all have to find our way through life and lists are what I fall back on time and again so it must work for me. It certainly empties of my head of the odd stuff I don't want there so I can focus on the paying work that allows me to survive.
If you're interested, here's a list of what a lifetime of list-making has taught me:
Be aware of miscellaneous trivia or concerns calling you away from your immediate work
Acknowledge, respect and nail this stuff by -
Writing it down and corralling it. Make a list!
Now rest easy knowing that the nagging stuff is safely stored for later attention
Get on with the other work
Deal with/attend to The List as a separate piece of work in its own right
Extra peace of mind tip - keep all your lists in one place eg a diary
When you've mastered the To-Do list you might like to consider the To-Done List. This is really good fun and useful to boot. When you're distracted and own-working like me, it's infuriatingly easy to repeat things you've already done. Stop this by:
Remembering to add things to the To-Do list in the first place
Crossing each off the To-Do when you've done it
Or simply list everything you do during the day to a To-Done List
A To-Done list is a quick and easy way to document and appreciate everything you've accomplished in a day/week/month. Kept in a diary, it's an instantly accessible, useful and satisfying record of your work output (you'll find it's quite high). Some people prefer to record all of their work after the event in To-Done lists, rather than beforehand in To-Do Lists. Exciting isn't it.
Remember, you manage your lists. It shouldn't be the other way round. Don't become a list slave, creating endless streams of impossible to complete tasks just for the sake of it, beating yourself up for your lack of efficiency when you inevitably fail to strike off the last item. Lists are there to alleviate anxiety, not add to the confusion, so know when to stop.
Keep lists short and the point. Set a specific time and date to deal with them; this is important. The things you list are not minor or ancillary to your 'proper' work - to be fitted in as and when - they are your work, so respect them as such by allocating resources and headspace to do them.
List-away then in the knowledge that you are probably a little more in control of your life with lists than without them.
Jane Anderson PhD specialises in Sociospacial Reciprocity and Place Therapy. She's been working in wellbeing for nigh on 30 years and is especially interested in the people-place relationship and how it underpins all other aspects of staff engagement and wellbeing. Her Staff Wellbeing Framework Model is now charter-marked for quality assurance.
www.jcaconsult.co.uk / 07742942651