Keeping a Good List

I have lately discovered the relief of keeping lists to help manage modern life. Now, lots of folks keep lists in lots of ways, but I’ll share some techniques that are working for me. Maybe some of them will work for you too.

Make lists manageable, not daunting.

* Intend to complete every item, every day. If you can’t complete them all, the list is too long. Pare it down.

* Don’t skip ahead. If you complete everything early, you have free time!

* Don’t list fun stuff. If you list it, it becomes work. You can enjoy your work, certainly. But let the recreational stuff remain spontaneous and optional.

* List ongoing activities by reasonable time segments. For example, “writing novel, 30 minutes.”

* Similarly, break complicated tasks into sub-tasks. For example, I need to design an online writing course. For a single day, my task might be “copy old quizzes from previous course management system” or “redesign essay 2.” By doing a little bit day by day, I can complete the larger task in a timely fashion without feeling overwhelmed.

Have a balanced list of items to reflect a balanced life.

* Include 1-2 time-consuming items, and do count the day job.

* Include 1-2 items that take you out of the house, running errands, walking, etc. (Of course, you might set aside one day to go into town and run 5-6 errands, but in general, aim to get out at least a little each day.)

* Include 3-5 quick items: emails you’ve been putting off, information to look up. These things should not take more than 5 minutes each, and it feels so good to cross them off.

* Include 1-2 items that involve physical work: dishes, laundry, taking out the trash, etc.: fit in some active time.

* Include at most 1 onerous task, something you know you really won’t enjoy. For one day, my onerous task was buying cell phone minutes. Doesn’t sound like a big deal? You don’t have my provider: it took an hour and a very unpleasant call to customer service. I was so glad it was the only icky task of the day!

Be flexible!

If I may butcher George Orwell, break any of these rules sooner than follow a list that doesn’t work for you. Life happens: if you need to, switch items around, give yourself sick day: a list is a tool there to help not to dictate.