Why Resist The List?

This week, I'd like to talk about my very strange relationship with the one of the most useful tools on the planet.  This tool is completely free to use (you do need a paper and pen, but really, those can be borrowed, if need be).  It's completely portable; it can fit in the palm of your hand, if you'd like.  And this tool has been shown to increase personally efficiency by about a billion-fold (approximately).  What am I talking about?  Friends, I speak of a good, old-fashioned To Do List. 

So, here's the strange part: even though I know that I will be able to accomplish a far greater number of tasks, organize my time more efficiently, and free up valuable cognitive function for focus on other things, I seem to resist the list!  Many people I know are in the same boat here.  Why do we resist the list??  It just doesn't make logical sense - we know how much writing a To Do List will serve us, we know it only takes a minute or two to complete, and yet, we resist, insisting instead on limiting ourselves in this way.  I had to fight myself for about three hours this morning before I broke down and made a list.  And you know what?  As soon as I wrote it, I felt instantly relieved, instantly more organized and competent.  So why in the world was it such a struggle? 

Perhaps we resist writing the To Do List because we feel it should be unnecessary - we shouldn't need to write stuff down; we've got these powerful brains; that should be enough, right? 

Well, that's true - however, picture your closet.  We all know how much easier it is to locate, say, a particular favorite shirt, when you can see it clearly, folded or hanging right in it's organized home, rather than at the bottom of a huge pile of unfolded clothes, completely obscuring the closet floor, as well as all the layers of clothing below the very top layer.  I'm not telling you to go organize your closet, although that might not be such a terrible idea either, but how much easier to organize your thoughts by writing a list.

I have the most terrific To Do notepad.  Somehow, it's way more approachable to write a To Do list on a pad that's been specifically designed with Listing in mind.  Mine actually has a column for each day of the week - the particularly ingenious aspect of this design is that it lends itself to To Do List modification - if some items escape you for a day, you can just move them over to the next day's list.  Plus, you get a sense of perspective as to what your objectives are for the week.  Also, let's say there's something you know you're going to have to do three days from now, you can write it in that day's column and you're freed from having to think about it until then!  So much easier!!

With all this effusive praise for To Do Lists, I do want to include a friendly suggestion as well: To Do lists work best when you use them fluidly, not rigidly.  It's never productive to get overly critical of yourself if your list/reach exceeds your grasp.  As long as you're moving forward, you're moving in the right direction. 

For those just getting started, I suggest writing some short-term lists, and also some long-term ones as well.  It can be very freeing to get those goals onto paper, so your brain can stop repeating them in hopes that you remember all the different components swimming around in there.

Also, boxes to be checked next to each item = a must.  It's just so very very satisfying to check them off.  In fact, if a large task can be broken down into smaller parts, it can be very rewarding to make a separate line, with check-box, for each component of the task, like if you're cleaning the bathroom, the floor, the sink, the counters, the mirror can all have their own lines, if you wish.  So much more satisfying to check off all those happy little boxes.

So, although this post is on the shorter side (homework comes first), I do feel that the topic has the potential to pack a pretty big 'pow'.  I'll leave you with a few related quotes from a really wise and amazing man named Brian Tracy, who once said, "Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor.", and, "Feeling listless?  Make a list!"