The Daily To Do List

How many of you are daily list makers?

If you said yes, I bet that your list, like my own, is much more than a list. Lists maintain order and productivity, a sense of accomplishment, even sanity. At the end of a "good" day, lists build up that fuel feeding fire called self-esteem.

Do you...

• Write little things on your list, things you know you'd do no matter what? (feed the dog)
• Add non-time sensitive to-do's to that are not targeted for that particular day? (store return)
• Jot down actions you have already taken, crossing them out nanoseconds after adding them?  (these are the important items that should have been on the list...)

These may sound silly to some, but list-makers will "get" it. Experts on time & priorities management agree to all three!

As a full time working mom with five kids and two grandkids, all of whom are out of the house and still very much a part of daily life, and with 15+ hours per week dedicated to fitness, I take nothing for granted when it comes to memory.  On my lists I write everything except "breathe in, breathe out".

Being somewhat green in nature, my lists carry over by day with scribbled line items and columns inserted to accommodate more so as not to waste paper.  This provides generous, visual gratification from those crossed out items.  Done and ta-dum!

So why blog about this mundane if not life-saving life best practice?

Because at 4:30am Sunday morning while reviewing and revising a list started four days prior I saw the following:  SHIP CAR

Seriously?

Even though I wrote it, seeing it at 4:30am this Sunday morning, it struck a chord.  Life has shifted from "pack lunches" and "get school supplies" to shipping a car from Chicago to Honolulu for my daughter's senior year of marine biology studies.  This eliminates her dependency on public transporation and walking a half mile from the bus stop late at night.  Despite the insanity and cost, this will make me feel better. 

Embedded within those two words, SHIP CAR, are dozens of steps all taking place within an unforgiving time parameter, each requiring an inordinate amount of coordination, conversation, confirmation, documentation, drill team like precision, and determination. This one item alone could have easily become multiple lists.

It dawns on me that all those years of managing the "little" to do's which never felt little has developed the skills required to use two words, SHIP CAR, for a huge "get-r-done".

Back to my Sunday to-do list... Then out for a run and tennis, both of which will be on the list. 

By the way, SHIP CAR is due to be complete on or by 9/10/12 when my daughter is behind the wheel in Honolulu heading for classes, ocean research, and a little bit of beach paradise.