The Beauty of Caught Up

Does anyone else out there have a to-do list that feels like it's breathing down their neck? I do. I'm a list maker by nature. I have a list for everything; all sorts of lists-- a work to-do list; a home to-do list; a combined to-do list (more on that later); grocery list... you name the area of my life, I have a list. But if I think I've got a huge list, you should see my husband's list. I caught sight of that baby the other day and, I'll tell you what, if that was my list, I would have a panic attack every time I saw it. But here's the difference, he writes stuff down and basically forgets it until he revisits the list. A very healthy approach to dealing with the list (and anyone will tell you, he is way more well-adjusted and healthy than me about most things in life; the yin to my yang).

And then there's me and my list(s). I write it down. I then obsess whether I've thought of everything. Am I forgetting something I promised to someone? I then spend time considering (read: nitpicking) as to what should be the priority on the list. I worry if the list is too short (what have I forgotten?). I worry if the list is too long (how will I accomplish everything?). It literally keeps me up at night. I not-so-secretly loathe people who sleep soundly at night apparently without a care in the world. I come from a long line of accomplished insomniacs/worry warts and lists are just the beginning of it. But I digress... Being such an accomplished list maker, I have discovered several tools to help me tame the list mess in my life:

Notebook- This program rocks my world! And, unfortunately for you PC users, it's only for Mac. It literally looks like an old-school, spiral-bound notebook. There are tabs on the edge of each page and you can organize it however you want in order to track projects, organize information, and any online info (all those lists of websites you know you're keeping), etc. This description is not doing it justice. It's genius.

Getting Things Done- My husband turned me on to this and I read about it in a magazine article as well. Just can't remember the source. The book (and article) make the case that merging all your to-do lists into a single list will help you be more time efficient. It's true! No more flipping between lists or looking in multiple locations for all your lists. One list; one location. Voila!

Friday afternoon- C'mon, admit it. We all know that Friday afternoon is not the most productive time for most people in their work lives. So, in the interest of doing something on Friday afternoon without completely checking out, I started to make a to-do list for the next week of work. It is doubly beneficial in the fact that, 1) everything from that week is fresh in your mind and you can remember project details easily (no more searching the old memory bank on Monday, trying to remember what you did the week before), and 2) you can hit the ground running on Monday morning because you know exactly where you are headed. And no more thinking all weekend long about what you need to remember for Monday.

Toodledo- I have not used this one but my husband swears by it. As their website proclaims, "An easy to use, online to-do list. Get organized, stay motivated, and be more productive." And who can argue with that? My husband says he especially likes it because he can jot something down on his iPhone if he thinks of it at night (yeah, right, like he ever wakes up once he falls asleep. grrr. see above regarding my dislike of this particular trait... or maybe it's just jealousy). Bad feng shui. Good organization.

So, happy list making to you and yours. May they be short, well-organized, and easily accomplished. And may at some time you feel the beauty of being caught up.