The Necessity of List-Making

I was reading in the paper today that very few people who make lists on a daily basis, complete the tasks they set for themselves. And it reminded me - I need to make lists.

It’s not that I don’t make them ever - it’s that I am inconsistent in their making.

And it’s not that I’m inconsistent out of indolence (though other things could be chalked up to that…) but rather, because I simply forget to compile one.

I attribute this also to age.

I know, you’d think I was Methuselah - but there’s no denying the memory takes jogging as the years pass.

The weird thing to me is that I may do something regularly, even daily, for some time and then one day forget to do it. The following day, I carry on as if I’d never performed whatever action is not being carried out. It might be a week, maybe more, before something twigs and a light goes on, reminding me that I’ve stopped doing something.

I find that very bizarre.

Granted, this is a rare occurrence - but when it does happen, it’s odd. I suppose it generally occurs when I am just starting something new and it hasn’t yet become a habit.

Still, how can you be doing something one day and completely forget about it the next!?

Or, as with lists, I simply forget that they can be useful tools for organizing the day’s plan of attack.

I’ll be mentally going through all the things I want to get done, with the ever-present fear that something will be left out, and it never occurs to me to write them down - on a list!

This generally applies to a variety of tasks but not so much when grocery shopping - for in that instance, I almost always make a list.

Okay, sometimes it is just a mental one - but after all my years of shopping, I find that I’m pretty clear about what I need to pick up. It’s only when the irregularly purchased items come up for restocking that I tend to make a list on paper, or digitally.

This whole list-making thing would make my life much easier - and it certainly would be easier on my nerves, since I wouldn’t be fretting about what it was I had wanted to get done.

I recently saw a video that detailed what could be one of my days - not every day - but the odd day.

Anyway, I think it’s time to start making lists a part of my daily routine.

As long as I can remember to do so…