Top Five: Reasons for Lists
Dec 07, 2015 
I love lists.
The older I’ve gotten the more I’ve come to rely on them. Just sitting at my desk and glancing at the plethora of sticky notes that surround me, I can find 8 lists. And those are just the ones that aren’t buried under other lists.
To do lists, grocery lists, lists of people to send things to, lists of keyboard shortcuts (the ones I use just seldom enough that I forget between uses), lists of authors, lists of swag to make . . . SO MANY LISTS!
So today, I am making my TOP FIVE reasons for lists. (Yes, a list about lists! I love it!)
- They make me feel accomplished. Sometimes, I put things like “shower” or “eat breakfast” on my To Do list just so I can feel more accomplished by crossing it off. Seriously, you should try it because crossing things off feels AWESOME!
- They take away my stress. For me, lists are better than a back massage. I get immediate results without actually doing anything! Plus, lists cost pennies (a bit of ink and a piece of paper) unlike back massages. And there goes some more stress as I think of all the $$$ I just saved!
- I forget less. Before I had kids, I rarely made lists or wrote things down. I could just remember. Not so anymore. And this is stressful (see #2)! I hate forgetting things. Feel HORRIBLE when I forget things. But with lists, the paper does all the remembering for me! Perfect.
- They are visual evidence to OTHERS of what I’ve accomplished. So my husband is really good about not asking “WHAT did you DO all day?” when he gets home and sees the mess that is our house (except right now. It’s clean. Really. Well not my office, but the rest. For sure.). But if he did, I could just pull out my list and boom! Evidence. I did work. See how long that list is? . . . Hey! Honey! Yo. You don’t need to read what’s on the list.
- Legit procrastination tool. Sometimes I just don’t want to do something. I don’t! But I might feel guilty just doing nothing. So I make a list instead. It’s brilliant! Not only am I doing something productive, but I’m finding reasons to put off that one thing that I really don’t want to do. Clean the bathrooms, you say? Oh dear. My list tells me I need to read this book first. Sorry. It’s on the list!
So there you have it. My top five. Now, why do you love lists?
4 comments ; ?>/i/tag@2x.png)
forgetfulness, groceries, Lists, memory, procrastination, sticky notes, stress, stress reliever, To do lists, writing
#1 and #4…oh absolutely!!!!
Hi Janet – I make notes as lists .. and lists as notes – then they get scratched out, more notes jotted around and so it goes on. Today – I hope to clear one post I need to write, then clear some of these illegible lists and take out what's important onto a new list! So it goes on .. I intend to get a note book that I use all the time – tick off, deal with etc etc …
May or may not happen! A great deal lives in my head – that hasn't got kids to clutter the brain up with! Cheers Hilary
I love lists for all the reasons you love lists, Janet! 🙂 And I do the same thing with putting things like shower and walk the dogs on my list just so I can cross them off. Sometimes I even add things I already did that morning…! 🙂
Totally agree. I don't know what I would do without my lists! I hope you're having a good Christmas season, Janet!