I'm Making a List and Checking it Twice

August is a lazy time of year for me typically. I'm usually dopey from heat and a little bit at loose ends about how to fill each day. It's easy to putter around doing nothing in particular until I suddenly notice another whole day is gone and I haven't really accomplished much of anything. Not that there is so much that absolutely has to be done on any given day. Mainly it's lots of odd jobs where it really doesn't matter which day they get done. Still, they do need to be done sometime, and the good old-fashioned paper checklist is my current miracle tool.

There is something so fulfilling about writing stuff down, no matter how trivial, and then checking it off when it's finished. Sometimes I even add an item to my list after I've finished it, just to have the pleasure of checking it off! Pathetic? Perhaps. But it works.

Naturally "there's an app for that". I've downloaded several to-do list apps. They're good too. Still, at least for me, a paper list I can scrawl onto absolutely anytime is the number one choice. The act of physically crossing something off is so satisfying. And as fast as the iPad is to launch, my paper list is even more instantaneous. And when the day is over and everything is done (or moved to the next list) I can just scrunch it up and toss it away.

For a procrastinator like me, the list is a godsend. My biggest trouble is that I sometimes have difficulty estimating how long a task will take. Electronic tasks in particular are notoriously hard to predict. Yesterday I had to reinstall Dan's baseball game. I thought fifteen minutes would suffice, but it was more like forty five ... without letting myself get distracted or off task either. It was just plain slow. But I can tell you that checking it off felt awfully good.

Today I've come up with another dilemma. What happens when everything is done? Except for a concert I may or may not go to tonight (and very basic things like walking the dogs and making supper which I don't put on the list at all), I really have finished all I'd earmarked for today. Guess what I need to do is make sure I either have a list of any-day odd jobs saved up, or start scheduling in a few fun things too. "You must read for at least an hour today. You must eat a Popsicle!" That could be kind of fun. And now I absolutely must go and have a cup of tea and do a few puzzles - it's not on the list yet, but it could be soon!