The art of the to-do list
I love lists. I have a list for pretty much everything. Lately, I've been challenging myself to re-think all the things I say I love. Shopping, going to restaurants, travel, and yes, even lists. When I was at Grail Springs with my friend, I found myself sitting alone in the hot tub one afternoon. I started writing a phantom blog post in my mind called something along the lines of, "There is more to life than your to-do list."
In my journal, I wrote: Life is a beautiful story, not a series of "to-dos."
And in that moment, I firmly believed this. I started thinking about throwing all my lists out the window. I started thinking about the merits of writing in paragraphs rather than bullet points.
As quickly as this idea came to me, it went away. Like I said, I love lists.
No, I don't want to spend my life making lists and doing things only to check off boxes. That would be stressful, and lists don't want you to feel that way. Lists can be a tool to enrich your life.
Here are a few ways I like to use to-do lists (and yes, I am writing in bullet points):
Ongoing open-ended lists: These are lists I use to collect thoughts or tasks I don't want to forget. It’s essentially a way to do a brain dump, and it relaxes me to know that I don't have to try to remember something. Grocery lists are in this category for me. Other examples of ongoing open-ended lists include: "books to read," "restaurants to try," and "stuff to Google." If I go back to the list and something no longer interests me, I have no qualms about deleting the item. If I forget about the list or never refer to it again, I don't fret about it — I was meant to forget.
Daily and weekly lists: I use both daily lists and weekly lists on an ad hoc basis. I don't try to come up with things to put on these lists. I only add items I want to remember. Examples of items on these lists include: "return library book by x date," or "go for blood work," or "book optometrist appointment." If I decide not to do something or to postpone something, I don't make a big deal about it. If I don't have anything pressing for the day or week, I don't make a list.
Other time limited lists: I’ve been maintaining 101 in 1001 lists for many years. I considered scrapping this when I was questioning my use of lists, but I think this collection of items serves a purpose. This list contains a mishmash of very different things, but it usually reflects my direction at any given point in time. It's a bit of a guidepost for what I want to learn, explore, and do in the next 2.74 years. As with my other lists, if I no longer want to do something on the list, I remove it. If I don’t do all the items, that’s ok too. No biggie.
The key to harnessing the power of to-do lists is to be flexible. Just because something is on the list doesn't mean you have to do it.
