The Art Of List Making

Lists are cool and all, but are they really?

The first list I made was my timetable, which gave me a headache and left me with very little time to sleep while I was 14. Since then, I’ve learned a couple of things about making lists, like :

Don’t make one, if you’re making it under pressure

To-do lists aren’t always made by people who wish to live a peaceful, casual life. The society that we live in, has a vicious suite of expectations; starting at our births to our deaths, and sometimes, even to our afterlives.

Go to school – excel in Math and extracurricular alike – be constantly compared and pressurized to compete – do well in 10th – do well in 12th – graduate – find a job – settle down – get married-– have a kid or two – die – do not haunt.

Everything needs to go according to the plan. And if, god forbid, one does not have a plan, or a job at 25, they’re a failure. To add to it all, every contact you have with another human being gives rise to another set of expectations and responsibilities.

Anyway, so what I was getting at is –

Try a Specific To-do list which says :

• Buy cereals and veggies.

• Remember to use the veggies before it goes bad.

• Pick up clothes from dry cleaners.

• Go for that spa appointment before the coupon expires.

Any other list is just not worth making. Maybe the only other important list which drives you positively could be a *drum rolls* Bucket List.

Bucket Lists 

Plans made while you’re drunk are not to be put on your Bucket List. Let your life thrive on spontaneity; get that matching tattoo with your girlfriends while you’re drunk, put your laser removal or cover-up tattoo on your list. Better yet, look at it and act surprised when someone points out your bad taste. Put believable and practical things on your Bucket List.

Bungee jumping? Why not!

Globetrotting? If you have enough savings, then why not!

Becoming the President of the United States of America? What? Why?

Procrastinator’s List

Each New Year starts with people making a mental list of goals they want to accomplish in that year; like shedding a few kilos, reading some more, going on a walk every day, giving up on that one bad habit they have and quitting the job that won’t let them catch a break.

Almost everyone is surrounded by people who, at least unknowingly, say something they want to start in January, while they are still in the middle of December.

Why make a To-do list and procrastinate when you can jump head-first into a spontaneous decision? Want to hit the gym? Do it on a Tuesday in the middle of October. Want to cut off that one friend whose negative vibes make you stumble? Do it on a 22nd in the middle of the year.

Don’t wait for a Monday, the first day of the month, or a New Year to do what you want to do. Planning on asking for a raise, do it the next day. Want to start job hunting, do it right away. It’s easier said than done, I know, but then we crib about adulting being complicated and about how being a 10-year-old was better than being a 28-year-old, all while we’re the ones who complicate our own lives, with our own hands, with our expectations on other people, with the self-inflicted pressure to see results and with the To-do lists on our notepads or inside our heads?

Let’s not put ‘getting the dream job’ or ‘finding love’ in our checklists or To-do lists. Let it come whenever it comes. Let’s just sit back, relax, and focus on our inner peace, shall we?

So, what I’d like to say is :

• Don’t make one, if you’re making it under pressure.

• Stress over a list you made seeking worldly pleasure. That’s the worst!

• Don’t be tied down by your responsibilities towards anyone, but you.

• Take charge of steering your own path.

• Be the one to start simplifying your life by embracing the little things.

But if you absolutely have to have a To-do list in order to function:

• Gift yourself a Planner!

This is literally the best thing about making any kind of list. If you absolutely need a To-do list, you definitely need a planner. Planners are your basic and hassle-free way to keep it all together (just the lists. Seek help if you can’t keep it together otherwise) unless you leave your planner in a heap of things and your mother gives those away to scrap dealers. Then you may have problems.

Do’s and Don’ts :

Call me old-school when I say this, but the pen is mightier than tech. Write down your goals and strike out the milestones as you go. The joy in striking out or scribbling over words is not the same as that of backspacing words. Also, if you leave a book and a phone unattended, no prize for guessing what may possibly get robbed.

Don’t write on those plain Jane planners. Gift yourself something appealing and make your lists with colored pens, okay? Remember to not let the lists you make stress you out.

kBye!

Image - Pinterest