Lists for life

I am a listmaker. When I say that it reminds me of the song from Fiddler on the Roof called Matchmaker, just change the word to listmaker. "Listmaker, listmaker, make me a list..." I don't remember when it started exactly. I think that the habit really took hold in college as a way to organize my thoughts and items to get done. That's when I had my first Day Planner.

I make lists for everything, and I draw diagrams also on my list. For example, when I have a project to do (let's say getting ready for girl's camp) I start with a nice clean list of tasks and items to find/buy/borrow. Then I map it out, draw a picture of what I am going to make. Then I start to cross off things as I go. Sounds neat and tidy, right? Wrong. Then I go somewhere and don't have my list with me, so I start a new one. Then I find my book that I keep list and thoughts in and I try to compile all the list in there. Until I am somewhere, like the store, and start a new one. The other reason I start a new list is that I hate looking at the messy ones I have now ammased. Eventually, everything gets done and I am able to do it better when I have my lists. Even if my lists aren't perfectly organized.

The other aspect to my list making is that it can tend to make me too task oriented. Balance is one of the hardest things in life to accomplish! If I am too concentrated on the list, I forget the importance of what I am doing. If I have no list, then I feel scattered and unorganized. Thus, I am working towards a good balance between the two extremes. On any given day if I don't get my list all checked off, I like to be able to take a deep breath, smile and say, "After all, tomorrow is another day!", then go relax!

I had a grandpa who was a listmaker. I knew that about him. When he passed away and we were going through his household things, I had to smile everytime I found a new list of his...on the inside of cupboard doors, behind things, tuck inside of things, on the back of things. Speaks to the question of nature and nurture.