Making a List

Amen sista! Lists are great for anxiety!

Yeah, that's on my list of things to do in the new year.....keep some lists! Great article! Thanks!

I completely agree! I get a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction whenever I can (finally!) cross an item off of one of my lists. In fact, I was reading a recent journal article the demonstrated that making lists actually improves your prospective memory (memory for future events) and helps us feel a lot less stressed! So let's keep making those lists! :)

Interesting!

I make a list to remember my list! Over the years I stopped doing them in shorthand, my personal one, because I'd look a few days or even hours later and not know what I had written about (~:

Sometimes I'm just lost without lists. I don't go crazy with them but they do come in handy :)

I don't know where I'd be without my scrap paper lists.. and nothing more satisfying than crossing off those lists. ;)

I LOVE lists! There's nothing more satisfying than writing lists...except, of course, crossing them off!! ;)

even with iphone and technology, i still make a shopping list of things to buy on paper when i head out!

lost without my lists

My husband keeps list & lists! Got have them

The only lists I make is for when going grocery shopping, and even that I'll forget home sometimes. I've tried making lists for other stuff, but then I'll never refer back to them. So I've trained my mind to remember appointments, birthdays, etc.

Every day or every night, I make a general to-do list for the day/next day. It definitely helps me keep track of time, and inspires me to suck the marrow out of every day. And I'm finding I'm making more lists of everything I do or like just to journal every day. You're right chaps676, making lists can be addicting! :D

I am a list maker... I have them everywhere... my resolution was to be more organized in my list making! ...It is funny, I am always looking for a pen and my kids say...just type it into your phone... I still default to the old fashioned pen, and paper list...There is something about posting it on the fridge, or on the dashboard of my car...that I can't help but do!

I am too a list junky. I have to create them or I will sit and read a book all day.

I like to make lists too, and then I forget about them and ignore them.

I am bound to my lists which I both love and dislike at the same time. I dream about throwing all lists out the window but that is hardly workable since I have both a family and business. The more evolved listing on my computerized devices has not made them any less bothersome but has made them more accessible. That is a benefit or detriment, depending on when you might ask me. It's usually a terrific relief that I have my iphone which keeps my many lists at the ready, just about any time or place. Some lists are so joyful in that I write down the many things I look forward to doing/making/seeing someday.

What would ever get done without lists! :)

A list of things to do is useless if the person does not make the honest effort to cross things out as tasks are getting done. There is nothing more frustating than a long list that never gets attention. I give myself three things to do per day and do them. The rest go on this list to be considered the next day.

Making lists is one of my to do items for this coming year. Great post thank you :)

I love to make lists, but then sometimes I get so caught up in everything I want to scratch off of it, that I forget to enjoy the unexpected moments each day has! To see the unexpected as opportunities and not nusiances in my quest to scratch one more thing off my list!!

"one item on my list of New Year’s resolutions is to stop making so many lists" — love that! And isn't it oh so true? I have that Umberto Eco book on my Amazon list! I love the elevating of list-making to an art form — I've seen it done in literary journals as a form of poetry even. List on, I say!

I alway´s makes list´s for everything and feel very god, it´s harder to MAKE the things....

Great article (she says, having just unburied her keyboard from the pile of lists...).

I no longer keep "To Do" lists. They became to anxiety-provoking. And endless. Instead, I keep a "Did It" list. Much more satisfying to see this list get longer by the hour. Laundry. I Did IT!

Enjoyed your post! I definitely come into the list maker category myself. Find that if I write everything down on paper I don't worry about keeping all the things I have to do in my head.

The lists I make usually have the things I have to do whitin the day. I've found that short term lists keep me more motivated, and help me get rid of procrastinating. It feels good to acomplish a goal, no matter how small.

it is so satisfying crossing things off on my to do list.!

very interesting!

my lists sure do help... they are quite detailed :O)

Lists are good !

I keep lists on my phone and also on paper. Somehow the phone lists I always forget about but the lists on paper are hard to ignore!

I am a Listaholic!

I swear by the lists on my cellphone, everything from shopping lists (including holidays & birthdays!). Since my phone is always with me I can add to OR mark off an item on my list. And oh how I love to mark off an accomplishment! Most days it really is a lifesaver.

Love the lists!!

I like being stressed! I rarely make lists...really, I don't . The only times I ever made lists, were when I was working at an office, and I needed to look like I was "doing something"; or, I simply wanted to write. Otherwise, I don't even make a grocery list! :X (Not saying,I don't ALWAYS forget something, either).

I never head into the supermarket without a list. Otherwise I come out with everything I don't need.

Check.

Done! now where is that strikethough key.... I always enjoy your posts.

so agreed. lists drive me crazy...i make them. i forget them. then i make more. now...where's that wide sharpie?

People make lists about making lists, in fact.

I love when I find an old list and everything has been done or they remind me what needs to be done, which is often the case ! I am a Listaholic and at the top is always Do More ETSY!!

Oh yes, beloved lists!!! I am so glad to know I am not alone! My father had always said that when I got married, I would have to have a pickup truck just for the lists alone! He was not of a generation that would automatically think of an electronic depository for our lists, namely our computers (he always called it "that box there"), but nonetheless, he was right! The amount of lists for my wedding definitely outnumbered the guests!!

I am a huge list maker. Problem is I always over whelm myself and except to get too much done in too little time. Then when everything isn't crossed off my list I get disappointed in myself. Need to work on that.

My lists torture me a little ;-)

I'm a proud list maker and list keeper. The reason they work so well is because it gets the anxiety out of your head where it can't do any good, and into the world where you can see it, preserve it, then turn your focus back to expansive creative thought, which is what our minds are best suited for. My favorite additional tool is separating the items on my lists into "Projects" and "Next Actions". I never "do" a project, but you "do" all the myriad separate, actions associated with it so I can cross it off as done. I don't mix projects and next actions on the same lists since learning about GTD. Then the Next Action lists get organized by the place and time where I'm most likely to be able to act on them. Nearly zero anxiety, max creativity/productivity. All from well managed lists. No high tech needed.

I Live on Lists! They help uncluttered my brain. I prefer physical lists to anything hi tech.

I am not a person of lists , once i make a list i'm sure i'll forget what need to be done, the only list i make is for the supermarket , and then i also forget to take it out, but i do love the beautiful notebooks and stickers, not so much the digital ones thank you for this lovely post

If it's written down, I no longer have to try to remember it. There is something satisfying about crossing off an entire "ta-dah" list- magical even, especially since it's a rare occurrence!

I'm guilty of being list-obsessed. Hmmm...maybe this year, I'll try going list-less ;-)

going to make a to do list right now them I'll feel like I've done something even if I don't do anything on the list :-P

I love lists!

Yes list, planing every time ! And then which time i will be free , i am feeling better in our hardworker life !

Lovely, thoughtful writing. A pleasure to read!

Great article and I totally agree! I make so many to do lists that I often wonder if I spend more time making the list than actually doing the things on it. Even with all the lists, it seems like so many things still don't get done.

Me make lists - 'fraid so? (a) to remember what I have to do (b) to feel good ticking things off (c) as a distraction from actually starting but guilty that the same things are on the list again. . again . again cos writing it on a list DOES NOT MEAN IT IS DONE!!

Making lists has become such a routine in my life! it can be rare to get that pen and cross something off, but the feeling described is dead on! Great article.

for me at the moment (have a gorgeous 8 month old) just remembering to even get thing's on a list is a mission

I am such a list maker. I do it when I'm bored, when I'm stressed, before bed at night, and when I get up on the morning. However, I rarely look at them once they are written (I probably should more - I would forget less!). I may be a list addict.

I'm a list maker that forgets my list when shopping :|

i love lists :D i'd never get anything done if i didn't make them.

Wonderful article and ....YES!!! I admit it - my life is organized by lists.

My grandmother always made lists,that how we figured out who she promised her diamond ring to.

I love making lists. It's how I know I've been productive (or not productive enough!)

It sure is hard to keep the balance between organization and anxiety ! I am currently trying to keep my lists short, only 5 or 6 tasks... Says I who wrote a 15 task list last night when I couldn't sleep! :)

I use the Post-it method of making lists. That way I can take it wherever I go and cross things off (I agree that's satisfying!).

Listing keeps me sane.

This December I had a great month on etsy. so much so that I had 3 lists going. Quick and Easy, So so, and Challenging. Having the 3 lists made it easy to pick a job to suit my state of mind. I started to cross off the finished items with a pencil. then I moved to a red pen and finally I used a broad marker. Whats up with that? Anyway, I have to agree that there is a great deal of satisfaction when that last item was crossed off.

I love writing things by hand, I ignore computer documents too much and writing it gets the task stuck in my head way better! :D

I too love a list (or 3). Packmatthews sums it up well for me. Lists gets things out of my head, where they swirl around and loom large. Written lists makes things much more manageable. I am beginning to use Evernote, an app for my iPad, which allows me to make lists and notes of my creative impulses and projects. It looks like it will be very useful.

pen and paper- the best way to go!

That is the only way! Great article! Thanks!

I couldn't agree more. Nothing like the satisfaction of crossing out items on a to-do-list.

I'm a list freak myself. That crossing out of a task with a flourish is what makes list worth the trouble!

i must do my lists!!!!!!!!!!!

Must have :)

I am sitting at my desk looking at a stack of lists! Just can't not make lists!

oh, it's nice to know i'm not alone :-) Now, life is better!

To be honest I'm not sure where I'd be without a good list! Long live the list : )

Last year I started using a day planner to keep track of all the things I need to do everyday. I get way to anxious if I don't have my list of things to do everyday!

*It's a normal planner. Not an electronic one. If I keep lists on the computer, they somehow don't seem real.

My husband and I both make a list every day with pen and paper to keep track of all of our To Do things. However I use a journal while my husband uses little itty bitty pieces of paper. While his approach might be just as effective as mine, those little pieces of paper drive me nuts. But whatever we use, We couldn't live without our lists.

I had a small notebook that i called 'my brain' for lists and things. Eventually you have so many similar lists that they can be recycled and cross referenced... But then people stopped buying me nice notebooks for xmas:(

So beautiful i like this.

I've had to learn to make lists for only one day at a time. If I let myself start putting things on the list that I think "It's all right if this doesn't get done today," then I go crazy trying to get those very things done. But keeping everything simply the 'need to' and not the 'would be nice to' allows me to feel that sense of accomplishment when I cross off everything on the list and know that I even did some more. Also, I've learned it's essential never ever ever to put on the list purely enjoyable items. So no listing 'have tea party with my girls,' or 'go on date with hubby tonight!' Because then those little joys of life become a tedious 'must do today' item.

Having a list really does help, I've noticed the older I get the more lists I seem to have.....hmmm

I think things are less stressful if I have a list of what I need to get done in a day, from ordering supplies to getting the floors vacuumed!

Great article! I'm actually simultaneously inspired to start making lists AND relieved I don't have so many to-do lists that I'm stressed out. I do remember how good it feels to cross something off, though. I'm gonna make one!

I was just thinking of historical figures, and the interesting lists that they could have had. Do you suppose Ben Franklin set his into type and printed copies for himself, or did he keep current lists with the help of his feather quill and ink jar?

I am a person that does not make lists. I see them as a taskmaster, a yard with a high fence. Do you think list making could fall into OCD behavior? Let them go. Slow down. Make be-ing a priority over do-ing.

I'm definitely obsessed with lists!

My husband has tried to teach me how to remember things like phone numbers etc but my reply has always been 'there's only so much room in my brain & I don't want to waste it on stuff I can look up!'...so I've been a listmaker since forever. I recently got a tablet & downloaded a Notebook app, I love it, I have 7 pages of lists, everything from shopping lists to To Do lists to the steps for making tutorials (on my To Do list for 2012...lol). I've consolidated scraps of paper, backs of receipts, paper notebooks into one easily accessed spot that's always within arms reach.

I'm a definite list-maker!

I love lists. I love to sit down and write with a pretty pen or pencil and make lists of all the things that I need or want to do. Later I just have to remember where I put the list. lol

I like to go back through my notebooks and read old lists.

Listing is fun!! ..checking things off the list is funner ;)

My lists drive my husband crazy and that is enough reason to keep doing them. LOL

Lists don't work for me except for remembering all the things I don't want to do because all the things I want to do get done before I decide on a list. Grocery items are the exception. Lists can turn a simple recipe for baking bread into something like this: flour, water, bake. Choose order of priority, cross off finished task, categorize as must do, should do, or leave til tomorrow. On the other hand if the list is an outline of a sequence of events that must happen in a certain order to obtain a desired result, then they are a must have. Nice blog!

I love making lists! Once a month I make a list of things that make me happy (my doggie, seahorses, etc), this really helps keep away the artist block/artist blues for me :)

can't live without them!

Lists are good for insomnia.

I don't plan, I don't set goals, I don't create strategys. I just make lists and check stuff off. Ironically I get anxiety if I don't make my list.

making a list is a step forward to actually have it done.. viva making a list!

NO LISTS IN 2012, 2013, 2014 ETC.

I'm a HUGE list maker! Lists in daily calendar, lists on my phone, lists on my computer. everywhere. But it keeps me in check! :)

I make so many to-do lists, my family actually gave me a journal that says "My Book of Lists" on the cover! Not that I didn't appreciate it or anything ;)

I've never really made lists but rather I tend to scribble thoughts and notes down on random pieces of paper that I always seem to misplace! I love the Notes app on my iPhone. I've been trying to put stuff in that because I almost always have my phone with me. I read an interesting quote a while back, not sure where it was from, probably Pinterest, it said something to the effect... don't make lists of what you want to do, just go do them.

your post was very entertaining

I looooooove my lists! I keep all my various lists in one of my journals.

lists exist to make to-dos desist!

Love my lists + my notebooks I record them in!

My mom was a list-maker and she got a lot accomplished each day by referring to her list and crossing off each task as she completed it. I have lists all over the place... so many places that I often forget where some of them are hiding. Perhaps I should make a list of the location of my lists? ;)

The Feeling of crossing an item off... oh such a NICE...feeling...a feeling... of accomplishment!! ~Krista

post its.....everywhere :-)

Great to know I am not the only List queen ,my mother has always wrote list she even has a organizing station my list are just scattered all around and I use the back of junk mail to write my list on. Got to have my list a life saver i would forget stuff with out them .

Can't live without lists... that's why I made a notepad for it :) and I like to start the day with some inspiration and something to look forward to at the end of the day. It keeps me going and makes sure I stay focused :)

I think it must be really difficult to manage things without a list! I always have one and I also take great satisfaction after drawing a line on finished tasks!

I'm sorta new to strict list making and need to write things on them when I remember them and not try to remember them after I forgot to write them down. It's a good habit.

Lists? Not so much except for groceries, errands. I prefer to make trips into town circuitous to save time & gas.

I'm constantly making lists. Different subjects of course. Helps me stay focused on what I need to do and what I can shift around.

making a list.... it's the story of my life and it the list is always getting bigger no matter how items I cross off, it's never ending and anxiety making but what if I don't make a list... will i remember everything? Let's make a list ;)

nothing more satisfying than crossing things off my list! Sometimes I make a list that includes somethings I've completed already, just for getting the satisfaction of crossing it off, haha!

As a devoted list maker - I keep my "to do", grocery, and craft supplies list in a little brown notebook. I enjoy looking back on the various lists and remembering what a great dinner party or project it related to. I like watching the notebook change and fill up as items get crossed off. I even use my own shorthand (basically leaving out vowels, nothing too tricky!). It is also good penmanship practice!

Great article! Lists can be very binding. However, they can be very useful as well. I don't think that I could live without a grocery list. I would always forget the obvious item that I really needed.

the only reason i make lists is (probably) so i can cross things off! so satisfying.

lists are a big part of my organizational process, too!

I need a list to keep track of my lists! :)

My 2012 goal is to actually use my planner and stick to my list!

All great women make lists. ;)

I have been keeping old school to-do lists in my old school desk planner book since my early twenties. For me, the object of the to-do list is not to get every single thing on it done that day, but rather a tool to just organize my mind. SOmetimes I feel like my mind is swimming things to do, but then when I actually see them down on paper, it does not seem as overwhelming. For me, its a comfort thing to do and most of the time, eveything gets done.

I need my lists to function. Otherwise, life would be even more chaotic that it already seems. Working off of list gives me a sense of accomplishment.

Lists are a great way for me to set goals. I feel like I have actually accomplished something when I am able to mark a line through an item.

I am definitely a list maker but while helpful I become my own worst enemy by always trying to re-invent the wheel and come up with "that better system"! Being OCD and a perfectionist, I tend to get frazzled when I am able to cross things off my list but my list looks messy! I have the same problem with organization! So I continue to read and learn from all of you! Thank you for the inspiration and ideas you provide! :)

So exciting to see my to-do lists featured in this helpful, informative article! Thank you! From lifehack.org: "When we write something down, research suggests that as far as our brain is concerned, it’s as if we were doing that thing. Writing seems to act as a kind of mini-rehearsal for doing."

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