I have lists everywhere. As a List Person (you know if you are one), I have notebooks, scratch paper, Post It notes, three-ring binders, bound journals and now a growing blog, full full full of mental entropy. Where are the house elves when I need them? Who is going to actually do these all things for me?
My lists overlap from day to day as some things are happily crossed off (change lightbulb) and others languish for months (organize work receipts for 2007).
I’ve tried regular, mixed lists and the kind you prioritize by A, B and C. I tried the Quadrant Solution from Stephen R. Covey (the Seven Habits guru), Flylady’s Control Journal, and some unusual advice for people with ADD. There are lists in my purse, lists on my desk, lists in binders, lists in files, lists taped to the wall, lists on the fridge. There are long term lists, short term lists and lists of minutia growing like mental weeds.
[On weeds. You need to weed a bit, says my husband. Ha. Weeding takes just as much time as actually getting things done. Too many choices between what is truly a weed and what is a flower. Over pruning got me into this mess in the past.]
It’s satisfying to check things off - even givens like “walk the dog” and “brush teeth.” It’s an even greater feeling to check off long-standing issues like “open 07 Roth account,” “file back taxes” and “reinstate suspended driver’s license.”
Do these lists actually help me get things done? Tough question. My binders work for me - I have a binder for every large area. Binders labeled Back Taxes, Current Taxes, Credit Reports, Banking, Portfolio, Legal Documents, Budgeting, Students Loans and Household Inventory. The binders are very helpful actually - a kind of bound, organized list I can refer to. They remind of of being in school, which for me is a good thing - the world made sense in college.
Yet these endless notes to myself? Those I suspect only make me feel worse about the bulk of what I have not done. It’s these lists that give me panic attacks on New Year’s Eve. Superwoman couldn’t use these lists productively. And I cannot stop writing them. Listing is an obsession. Lists both hurt my head and lend a reason to get out of bed.
….Lists. Ultimately useless but I love them.
I was just wondering if there is a name for it. It’s too difficult to research on the internet. All I can find are lists of obsessions it’s all rather frustrating.