It’s on the list

I am an inveterate maker of lists. Multiple lists, in a notepad and on my phone, and a detailed paper diary keep me on track and rolling along in daily life. More than that, though, they give me security and a sense of being on top of things.

Part of me thinks I keep lists because I am a highly organised person. Perhaps the truth is more in the reverse – that I am a highly organised person because I keep lists. There is probably an element of both operating.

Part of me thinks I keep lists because I harbour a strong streak of laziness. Keeping lists saves me from having to think too much, make too many decisions or carry the stress of having forgotten something.

Alex Mathers, UK-based coach, writer and illustrator, makes the wonderful suggestion, however, that lists take us ‘from what is happening to what is possible’. He is clearly talking about more creative lists such as those containing ideas, plans, goals, steps towards achievement and the like, but the idea resonates enormously.

I could make the stretch and find a way to fit my daily, weekly, monthly, what-to-take-where lists into the realm of the happening to the possible. Better still, I could expand my suite of lists to embrace those more forward-looking examples, particularly in my art world.

Lists are not for everyone, but they work for me. Now, I will cross ‘blog’ off today’s catalogue of tasks and discover what tomorrow will bring.

Until later,

Kirsten