to FOLLOW my to-do list

One of my more clever moves have been to start doing my to-do list on the back of my daily crossword puzzle. This means I am now highly motivated to have it on hand.

I’m still trying to get my head around the idea that even if there is apparently only one thing to do for the day, it is still necessary to make a to-do list. There will always be breaks and mealtimes and stuff, and big jobs should (no, must) be broken into smaller parts.

i’ve gotten a lot better at this. i keep my list on me at all times and check it everyday to see if there is something on there i can accomplish and mark off.

Today I learned again that the more well defined a to-do item is, the better it is. “Drill four holes in antenna pole” is much sharper than “antenna”, and today it proved much more effective.

If I write something on my do-to list today, and I find that I don’t get to it because there is something else I have to do before I can do that, then it makes sense to put the something else on the list tomorrow, and not the thing that I had on today.

In the morning I throw on my chunky headphones, play some Air or something else mellow and just sit up in the bed and go through my whole day in my mind, from when I wake up, until I go to sleep. I cover everything, the day to day things like showering and dancing while I do my make up, and the things on my to-do list. It takes about 10-25 minutes, but it helps me remember what I want to do and, at least for me, my brain kind of turns it into a game and tries to match up my day to what it’s already gone through. Example: having lunch will instantly set of the memory/reminder that I have to go to the post office. I heard about doing this it in a podcast and thought is was going to turn out to be load of crockery, but it works for me, which is cool.

I’m more-or-less in a habit of making my to-do lists for daily planning, but I often don’t look at them again, as if I will magically remember what I wrote down. (Actually, sometimes the magic does happen, but it’s not very reliable.)

i made a new list and actually finished about ten things on it today!

i made a list of ninety one things i wanted to work on this summer, ranging from transferring my cd’s to my computer to having my college books bought back to making shelves for my apartment…and i lost it!!!!!!!!!!

now what were the other 88?

I made out a month worth of to-do lists for housecleaning at the beginning of this month, so I’ve been at it for two weeks now. My house is nearly spotless. I’ve added things I always mean to do and never get to now, for my health, and for my son. Along with the housecleaning, I now have eating breakfast and drinking a glass of milk and six glasses of water every day, working out in some way every day, and doing my sons “hooked on phonics” type program with him every day. I won’t go to bed until my list is finished, so as the day goes on I know that if I don’t want to be up all night I’d better be working on the list. It’s so benficial!