To Do Today (The Art of Making Lists)

If someone were to ask me what is some of the best advice I ever got, top among such advice is "A short list is better than a long memory." I read it in a small book called "Life's Little Handbook of Wisdom." Cost a couple of bucks at the local Christian bookstore. It was for Grads. I bought it for myself.  I can savor a good quote for a long time.

The little handbook survived the great purge of post-Divorce discarding 75% or my CDs and Books. The goods, mostly evangelical Christian stuff, may have served a useful purpose at one point (I don't want to be totally dismissive). But, the CDs and Books had become burdens that I never read or listened to again so it was wise for me to chuck. Most of it embarrassed me frankly. Corny in retrospect. A parallel product culture. Shred and incinerate. See ya. 

I also jettisoned a lot of my Christian Sub-Culture attitudes and behaviors. I started listening to NPR, stopped giving to Conservative political causes, and called it a day. My Divorce in many ways freed me from the cell and corner and I had painted myself into. It didn't work out as I planned. So, it was up to me to move on. It has left me as an Exile of Evangelical Christianity. And I am OK with that. Still a Christian, mind you.  With 81% of self-identified Evangelicals voting for Trump, this was just further confirmation that I was no longer drinking the Kool-Aid. I know some voted for DT as the lesser of two evils. Still evil mind you. And if the Church was about Jesus's mission, it would be less concerned about the machinations of power.           

I believe I was already making lists by the time I read that quote so all it did was reinforce something I had already learned. In fact, I would say that there are two major components to list making (the same thing with two facets):

1) Putting the right things on the list. Having right goals, God-honoring goals. The goals don't have to be audacious and over-the-top. They can be minor but still need to be ethical. The Nazis were quite methodical and deadly in their organizational Concentration Camp plans. But, it was of the Devil.   

2) Making the list attainable. While it is great to have a broad vision that informs our choices, it is better to make the list task and time oriented. I use both paper and my iPhone Calendar and Google Calendar to work out steps and ways to check my benchmarks. I was an early adopter with handheld digital calendars starting out with the Palm 105 probably in the early 2000's.

Jesus simplified the 600 and change laws of the Old Testament to "Love God and Love Your Neighbor as Yourself." Even the Ten Commandments, what is called the moral vs. the ceremonial law, is only 10 succinct statements. Usually great messages and movements can be summarized into a simple series of statements. The execution may be extraordinarily complicated but the underlying ethos should not be. If it is not done for love, chances are it is not going to last. 

I think I started making lists at work. As a young school counselor 27 years of age in the early 1990's, I was not able to manage the position effectively. I was sinking and working harder and longer was not the solution. I was taking on water but just rowing madly. Still drowning. Working wiser and in a more concentrated manner was the key. I developed a system that made my To-Do List a system of interlocking notes. First see and listen and think about what needs to be done. Then, write in down. Then put it into an organizational system (usually alphabetical for long-term things), and then prioritize the tasks by writing down the steps and ordering. Then, keep a record. It is all rather elementary but it made a huge difference in my effectiveness. To this day, this not entirely obvious network is in place. But, the system is always humming in the background. 

My Mom made lists when I was a kid for shopping at the grocery store. I think I copied this from her. I learned about two decades ago to eliminate a step in the making of shopping lists in that once I ran out of something, that was the time to put it on the list. Not to do a macro-inventory before shopping. I typically err when I don't follow my list. I buy things that I already have duplicates/triplicates of. It is not a big thing besides storage. I rarely throw foodstuffs away because of things going bad. One of the reasons I don't buy fresh produce. I will usually not be able to eat it all. Instead I buy frozen or grow it out back. 

Saturdays tend to be my To-Do day. During the school week, I try to protect my mind, body, and soul from the week-to-week things that need to be done. That is why I would be a terrible parent. So, I do my laundry, cook for the week, pay bills, etc., and address work tasks that I just can't get done at school because I am not able to block out hours at a time. I just finished a multi-hour Child Abuse and Employee Conduct training online yesterday. The clock was ticking and now I have it done and off my calendar rather than hanging over my head like a sword.

Yesterday, I pushed through the list in the photo at the top of the blog. I didn't get it all done but most of it I did. Those things that I didn't finish, I at least started. Some of the tasks require some feedback from others. So, I wait.  And yes, I will call my Mom.