At one point this weekend, I had no less than 6 lists piled high on my desk: my standard weekly grocery store list, my standard weekly Target list, my packing list for Florida, Colton's packing list for Florida, the list I had started for our upcoming Chanukah party (more on that later), and my continuing house "dreams and realities" list. I read somewhere recently that an organized life is a life wasted, implying that all that time "organizing" is just wasting the time that you could be doing meaningful things. Well, again 6 lists deep, I began to contemplate if maybe I was wasting my precious time by taking the time to prep my adored lists. My conclusion? An emphatic NO!...in fact, I argue I actually save a lot of time, money, and energy by making my lists.
Take my "dreams and reality" list for example. I made a similar list back when we lived in the townhouse. It was full of any and all home improvements I could think of for that place. At its height, there were about 75 items on the list, but each time I had a little extra time, I would take a look at the list and tackle something on it. When we left the house, there were only about 20 items left, and truthfully, it would have been a waste of money to conquer those things. Now that we are in the house, I have a similar list. Not much has been crossed off yet, but there are things on there that range from new house numbers to a pool and patio being added to the backyard. Here's a sampling
EXTERIOR FRONT:
• New mailbox
• Pave/expand driveway
• Landscape flower beds
• Front step numbers
• Doorbell
• Shutters
• Add front porch under dining room
• Solar lighting
• Storm door
Who knows how many of these I will actually accomplish by the time we eventually leave this house to move on (especially because we bought this house to be in for quite some time), but I love that when I do have an extra hour, day, or mabye a few days (lord knows when that will happen again) and some extra money, I have several option to choose from. This way, I feel like I am actually accomplishing something and not just filling my time and money!
So what about you all? Do you live by lists like I do? Or fly by the seat of your pants?
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I love lists, but they don't work very well for me....I am a compulsive shopper...something like this may help me...I have thought of trying to not buy anything unless it's on the list...maybe I'll try that in January...
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