Do you make "to-do" lists?

[RandomAnthony]

I think we talked about this briefly once before, but as there's a good article about it today in the NY Times, I thought I'd bring up the subject again and see where it goes:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/rea...

Do you make "to-do" lists? Why? How do they help you? I do...and as mine is slightly long right now, I must respond later.:)

[[deleted user]]

No, my wife does them for me.

[Jim]

Clark wrote: "No, my wife does them for me."

Ditto!

[Kevin]

i sorta do at work but mostly it is just transferring yesterday's to-do list onto today's

i did hear a funny comedian named jeanne robertson say that she waits til the end of the day and then writes all the things she got done that day on her to-do list and then crosses them off. she said she feels better about herself for getting so much done from her list

[Sarah]

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. My lists are the only thing between me and utter chaos.

[Jim]

That fine a line huh Sarah?

[Sarah]

Pretty much. Except I'm very good at lists. Kinda like being a really really good tightrope walker.

[Jackie "the Librarian"]

Yes, I make lists. Here's one that's on my desk right now :)

[smetchie]

I always think I'll remember what I have to do. But I don't. Lists make me feel so much better because it's all THERE.

[janine]

i started making to-do lists when i was on my TC sabbatical. it really helped me get a lot of stuff done, but after three weeks i was bored with them so i quit. maybe i'll start again later.

i like the idea of making a list of everything you've done in a day and then cross it off and admire what you've done. i did that with small things like watering my plants and brushing my teeth, just to have something to cross off the list.

[Sarah]

The crossing off is the best part. My list today had twenty three things on it. I've been able to cross off nine.

[Jonathan]

I have a never-ending to-do list. I email it to myself, listing due dates for upcoming projects in chronological order. Then I send myself a reply every time I have to add a new item (I'll also delete finished tasks as I go along). I find this easier than keeping a calendar, which is what I used to do.

[Jim]

Make to do list

Done!

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

My wife does them for me.



No, not really.

I always have a To-Do list on my laptop. Plus, I have handwritten lists that lie about. When I go on trips or vacations I make a separate to-do list of everything domestic I need to do before I leave (lock windows, water plants, check 10-day forecast, etc.) and what I need to pack. In addition, there are various post-it notes stuck to things....

[Heidi]

I make lists for everything... to do lists for work, to do lists for my weekends, grocery shopping lists, to do lists for vacation planning, to do lists for road trip planning, to do lists for the days I have lots of errands to run, to do lists on wedding days (because there's always alot to do in preparation for the wedding), to do lists for party preparations, to do lists for friends who dogsit Robby, etc, etc.

I like to mark things off my list, too - that's my favorite thing about lists - the marking stuff off the lists.

[Kate]

Jonathan wrote: "I have a never-ending to-do list. I email it to myself, listing due dates for upcoming projects in chronological order. Then I send myself a reply every time I have to add a new item (I'll also del..."

I do something similar. I just never send it; I let it sit in my Drafts folder and add things as I need to. I also add priorities and how long I think it will take to do the task. That way if I need a 10 minute task, I just go down the list doing the highest pri, 10 minute task.

I know, I know that's kinda AC but it really helps me.

[Félix]

AC?

[Jim]

Air conditioning :-)

[Kate]

Anal compulsive---kinda a combination of anal retentive and obsessive/compulsive.

[smetchie]

Lobstergirl wrote: "My wife does them for me.



No, not really.

I always have a To-Do list on my laptop. Plus, I have handwritten lists that lie about. When I go on trips or vacations I make a separate to-do list ..."

HAHA!

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

Johnny Cash's to-do list.

[Susan]

Johnny Cash.
:)

His handwriting style is not what I expected.

Interesting that anyone in his note is smaller than all the other words.

[janine]

He was probably afraid he wasn't going to fit both anyone and else in after don't kiss.

[Kevin]

hey that's my list too

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

I thought your list would also have "rearrange James Michener books on mantelpiece."

[Susan]

Or dust off glitter streamers on motorbike.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

"Make sure no lint has come to rest on turkey fryer."

[Scout]

I read Ben Franklin's autobiography when I was young, and I thought lists seemed like a good idea. I've been making them ever since. Crossed off four things on my list today and moved the rest to tomorrow's list.

[Kevin]

LG - oh yeah. forgot that one

[Cynthia]

My life is full of lists. I have a grocery list, a home repair list, a garden list.

Today is a pretty short list:
Drive to Minneapolis
Find hotel
Find Spill The Wine
attend Tom's wedding reception
Kiss June.
(not really.)

[Susan]

I need a list that just says kiss on it. #2 would be kiss more. #3 get shit done.

[evie]

Get shit done is top of my list today.

[Sally, la reina]

My list today:
drink water
pee
read Poisonwood Bible
drink water
pee
change Leah's pants/get Leah to the potty in time
drink water
pee
read
drink water
talk about going to the potty with Leah
drink water
long for a nap
pee
read Poisonwood Bible
drink water
pee
narrowly avoid window of pee on potty opportunity
go to grocery store, waddle around, forget essential item
race home and barely make it to potty (both me and Leah)
make dinner
drink water
pee
give Leah bath
drink wter
pee
take bath
pass out after arranging 28 pillows around my enormous self in stupid, sagging mattress
get out of bed to pee
sleep

[Cynthia]

That's a big list, Sally. You must have an enormous bed--28 pillows?

[Sally, la reina]

<*>hugs heiderson*>

[Sally, la reina]

No, Cinderson, I do not have a large bed. Its a queen size travesty from the late 90s. I hate its sagginess.

[Phil]

The list could be a lot shorter if you'd get some Depends.

[Sally, la reina]

I might go to the store to purchase them but I'd forget to buy them.

[Susan]

You need a body pillow.

[Sally, la reina]

I have one and I love it. But I also feel that a thirty pound bowling ball in my belly is no match for a pillow. I need some heavy duty foam - like what they put in the gutters at bowling alleys, I guess.

[L.F.]

I don't make a to-do list. I would never finish compiling it, so nothing would ever get done.

[Kevin]

LF, a to-do list is never done. then it would be a to-done list. the best way to do one is to actually do it at the end of the day before you go to bed and write things you already did then cross them off. you will sleep better with a feeling of accomplishment

[evie]

Kevin, you are brilliant!