On Schedules and Lists...

You may already know this about me, but I love lists.

Those posts that all seem to start the same and don't actually say much - you know...

9 Ways to...
10 New Tricks for...
Top 5...

They draw me in. Another list to read? Yes, please.

But the main list I use is a "to do" list. I've gone through countless pieces of paper in my endless loop of writing and crossing off.

I admit - I've written things down just to cross them off a second later. There's joy in that.

After nearly filling a notebook with nothing but "to do" lists, I realized I had a problem. Now, some people might have sworn off "to do" lists altogether. Not me.

I got a dry-erase board.

Every week or so I erase it all and start fresh. I divide it into two sections: "things I need to do now" and "things I need to do eventually." The next week, many of the "eventually" category will end up in the "now," but some will already be done...and the rest can wait.

(I also have a "want list"...things I would like but don't need. Those three items have been on it for months. I'm not sure what the point of that is.)

That should be enough to keep things straight (though it probably looks messy), but I'm scatterbrained. I need a calendar, too. On there, I write projects on their due dates. More things to cross off!

Is there anything quite like that feeling of accomplishment when a task is complete? I doubt it.

Do you have a "system" for getting things done on time?