MIND ERASER

I love lists.  Since the beginning of time I’ve loved lists.  I’ve always made and relied on them to survive my day to day.  Whether in my personal or work life, seeing something crossed off of one of my many lists and knowing that that means it’s completed just feels good.  Sometimes I wonder though if relying on my lists contributes to the fact that my memory is almost completely shot, but I’m also not as young as I used to be plus I’ve got a lot going on so let’s chalk it up to all of the above. 

I use lists for everything and, why not, right?  I’ve got lists for shopping, stores to visit, movies I’m dying to see, books I want to read, quotes that have struck a chord, vacations I want to take, nail polishes I’ve liked (it streamlines the decision process next time ‘round) and conversations I want to have, you get the idea. 

Whoa, back it up!  Conversations?  That’s right, conversations.  If it’s late at night and I think of something I need to tell someone I seriously either jot it down to remind myself to bring it up the next day if emailing or texting is inappropriate at that exact moment.  Though I recently got a pretty phenomenal Textalert app which lets me write a text and decide at what time I want the recipient to get it.  This way I won’t wake my friends in the middle of the night with my crazy thoughts if they sleep with their phones on their nightstand like I do (for emergencies only not random thoughts). 

Clearly, I use lists for everything and if I can’t remember to have a conversation with someone then my memory is more far gone than I thought it was.  But the key to successfully using lists is to not become overwhelmed by them.  Here’s a good system that I've established in my years of obsessive listing behavior.  General info stays with me at all times.  I use the note feature in my phone because I always carry my phone, and it beats lugging a notebook around, though I love me some pretty notebooks.  So, my shopping list, for example, is in my phone.  I can stop at the store at any time and always know what I need.   Tasks that I need to do immediately (like within a couple days to a week) are listed on a magnetic notepad on my fridge.  I cross them off once they’re done and move on to the next.  Finally, I keep “long range” to-do’s on the mirror-turned-chalkboard that hangs in my kitchen.  I once missed a doctor’s appointment because I put it in my phone calendar three months before then totally forgot about it (I've mentioned before that I refuse to take reminder cards from the office).  Since I came up with the board idea, I see these future to-do’s every day and there’s no way I could forget about them if I tried.

I’m sure some will argue that too much relying on lists makes one's memory weak, but I say, pish!  There are puzzles and brain teasers for that.  I'd prefer to simplify my life wherever possible. And simplify is key: don’t duplicate lists.  Decide what goes where and keep it on that list, otherwise you’ll drive yourself crazy.  You’ll spend more time organizing your lists than you will getting your tasks done.  And that’s not the point here…not once you’re set up anyway.  Happy listing!