Making Lists- To Do or Not To Do
As a Life Coach, I often work with a lot of clients who are not list makers…
Some of us love lists and some of us despise the very thought of it. Personally, I’m a list maker. I’ve been the butt of many jokes by friends over the years. “Tell Wendy… she’ll add it to her list and she’ll be our memory captain… Everywhere she goes she brings her little pad of paper with her- she’s such a list maker”.
So here’s the thing. I actually like making lists. It’s probably a control thing, but I feel more empowered than when I don’t make lists.
What kind of lists do I make? Grocery lists, trip packing lists, Holiday gift lists, lists of project work that we need to get done before the holidays are upon us, lists of things to remember to tell my husband at the end of a busy ‘working from home’ day so I can debrief him fully, the list of what I want to get done around the yard and the house and of course the list of books I want to get from the library, hey the lists go on…
So, when I’m coaching a client who is not a list maker, I’ll sometimes broach the topic and see if making a list makes sense to them… to help them get a bit more organized, or so they can remember important or not so important items in their day, or in order to provide themselves with a sense of accomplishment. And I so appreciate the client for who they are, no matter whether they embrace or reject the concept of list making. Because, after all, just because it works for me, doesn’t mean it is right for them. To each his/her own.
Gotta run- need to add toothpaste to my Saturday shopping list!
I’m a died-in-the-wool list maker myself. I find one of the real benefits is what I call the ‘list post mortem’. We all lead such incredibly busy lives these days, jumping from one priority task to the next, often never really feeling that we’re caught up or ahead of the game. Looking back at a week’s or month’s worth of ‘to do’ items and seeing all the check marks can really give me a sense of accomplishment ~ a welcome reminder that I’ve actually completed more that I realized! Sometimes that’s all it takes to provide the motivation to tackle the next never-ending list…