Do you have the secret to organization and balance?
I know about lists. I even make lists. Where do the lists go? I think they drown in the sea of nonsense that is my desk. Anyone can make a list. Look. I’ll make one right now.
(in insignificant order and incomplete)
finish organizing desk
do laundry
paint bathroom
grade papers
finish designing online writing course for work
call dad
write down ideas/plans for Plum Tree
catch up with blog reading
buy birthday gifts for Saturday’s party
finish illustrations for children’s book
start planning for October’s show
write that book jacket synopsis for the agent
make a better list
The problem with some of those things is that they never really leave the list. Laundry is forever. Sure, I could prioritize the list, but…well, that’s something else to put on the list.
prioritize the list
The list doesn’t appreciate how tired I am or that my son needs to eat.
Maybe I should put whinging on the list so I can mark something as done.
On the bright side, tomorrow I shall write the last story for story-a-day May. Whew. What will happen to my writing after that? No idea.
With my big move out of the way, so maybe I can now become the sane and organized person I’ve always wanted to be.
I’ll put that on the list.
be the way I ought to be
It’s on the list! That means I have to do it.
What about you? Do lists work for you? Or do they laugh at you behind your back?
Marta Pelrine-Bacon 
Lists are such a double edged sword. They are like hey I’ll help you remember to do this but then at the end of the longest day of your life it’s like, hi remember me? Ya…you forgot some stuff!
I can’t function without a list. I have one for work, writing, and home. On paper, dry erase, and that nifty iGoogle widget, my lists are everywhere. I get such a rush when I cross off an item! 🙂
I try. In my way I really do. But I just can’t seem to get my act together long enough. Good for you though! I am a wee bit envious.
I make lists at the start of each week. I am happy if I cross off half of the things from it. Sometimes I wonder if I wouldn’t be more effective without them.
I definitely have mixed feelings about lists, which is probably why I don’t use them effectively.
if the first line of this poem crosses my thoughts, it is like magic. any list i might have made will have to wait for another day.Believe it or not, it all balances out for me when I let my Spirit choose what’s important.
I Meant To Do My Work Today
by Richard LeGallienne
I meant to do my work today,
But a brown bird sang in the apple tree,
And a butterfly flitted across the field,
And all the leaves were calling me.
And the wind went sighing over the land,
Tossing the grasses to and fro,
And a rainbow held out its shining hand,
So what could I do but laugh and go?
This isn’t in the same tone at all, but your comment reminds me of a favorite line from, I think, Douglas Adams. “Don’t call in sick. Call in well.”
That isn’t a lovely poem, but it does capture that perspective of don’t miss out because of all the things we have to do, or say we have to do.
Thank you for sharing the poem.
Now this is going to take us further afield,but I guess thats the point. Reading your reply to my comment reminded me of something else, in fact a whole lot of something else’s! Maybe that’s why some of us have difficulty with lists,our minds resist the cut and dried.I love following threads of thoughts and I love a writer who provokes me to thought.
remember this?
Imagine if something I made did the same for someone else. Even if I never publish anything, connecting with someone through something I created would mean wonders.
That’s you.