Do you write lists?
I am a list girl. My daughter is a list girl. My mother is a list girl. My son is a list boy … we are list people. Lists appeal to the total control freak side of my being. I like the idea of writing the list, then ticking off the tasks as I achieve them. There is a certain smugness associated with a completed list.
I have written several lists for the organisation of heading off to Sydney tomorrow (my time). I have a list for things I need to achieve before I finish the day job today. I have a list of jobs that my son and my Dad have promised to do (feed the cat, make sure the budgies have water and seed, etc) whilst we are away. I have a list of things that need to be achieved for my stitching life before I leave, and a list of things I need to pack and take with me.
Of course because I am such a control freak I often worry about what I’ve left off the lists I write. I have even caught myself thinking about writing a list of forgotten things … I haven’t actually done that one yet … but one day that desire will get the better of me I just know it!
My family know that once I start writing lists I am serious about achieving whatever the ultimate goal is. They nod sagely at each other … and mutter about Janie and her lists! When Em says she’s written a list I know she’s on track and getting organised. When my Mum writes a list I know the job in hand will be achieved successfully. I know if I give Tom a list he will follow it to the letter.
Funnily enough even DH has started to write lists. He never used to … he used to just try and remember what he was supposed to be doing. Often the remembering didn’t quite stretch to the entire number of things that needed to be done. The list-writing achievements of the rest of the family obviously indicated the need to write lists. He’s good at lists now. I feel a certain sense of smugness knowing that DH is now a list writer like the rest of us.
I’d love to know if you write lists. Or not … and why.
So now I can cross ‘write blog post for S4L before I go today’ off my list!
Categories: Personal
I’m a sometimes list maker. I truly prefer not to make them. Sometimes I’ll make a grocery list with every intention of taking it with me to the store. But about 1/2 the time I forget to take it. Then it’s a fun game to do all of my shopping, trying to remember everything on the list, then checking to see if I missed anything once I get home (more often than not, I do).
I fully recognize the usefulness of lists and appreciate how they contribute toward completion of goals. They just bug me, so I avoid them. I prefer to live life by the seat of my pants!
I love lists!!! My list app is the most expensive one I ever bought, and I don’t regret a penny of it. How do people live without lists?
I am definitely a list person. I have packing lists for each place we may travel. These lists have been tweaked over the years so they are just about perfect. With now wintering else where, the packing list for the winter even includes a column that I call “One Time” for items that we think need to be moved to our winter home.
I keep a shopping list on the computer that gets printed right before I head out the door to go grocery shopping.
Lists definitely help keep me organized.
I always have a list. I am lost without one. I think if I don’t have one I will forget what needs to be done.
I make lists for imortant things that need to be accomplished. I used to make more and would not complete them, or decide that they weren’t really important. Then I would feel guilty for not following them. If I limit my lists to things of real import (usually work related), then I will follow them and they can save my life. I do love the satisfaction of checking things off!
Mike and I have been known to write things on a list after we’ve done them, just for the satisfaction of crossing them off!
I’m definitely a list-maker. I always have at least one list on my desk; more likely, I have multiple lists. There’s one on the fridge for shopping items. And I have several in a file folder because they come in handy time and again.
*Are you planning to visit Alaska and want a packing list? It’s in the folder.
*Want to know what groceries you’ll need for eight months in the Bush with no re-supply? That list is in the folder, too.
*Want to make a puzzle that uses words that only have “a” for vowels (salsa, salad, banana)? Yep, I’ve got a list for that, too. I made that one before I was online and could Google anything and everything.
When you live a great distance from stores and don’t have the option to pick up a forgotten item “tomorrow,” not forgetting is vital. Lists are lifelines.
It’s good to know I’m amongst friends who write lists 🙂
And yes Jen, I too have been known to write the list after the jobs have been done, just for the pleasure of crossing them off the list. (Does that mean we have sad lives, where such things as this give us joy? – I think not!)
Next Monday on my own blog (http://www.janiehubble.com.au/blog) I will be publishing a Traveller’s Stitching List – detailing what I take with me when I want to stitch on a plane trip.