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As young as eight years old I was a list maker. I would wake up on weekend or summer mornings and chart my day via a list of To Do items. Sometimes, if I felt particularly OCD, I would allot specific amounts of time to each task. As an adult, I still make lists. They soothe my soul. Each list is a an opportunity to organize my day and feel productive as I check off each item. (Quick tip: The first item on your list should be Make a list. After you make the list, you already have something to check off!)
This holiday season, if you can only choose one thing to reduce your stress, I highly recommend a list. What you put on that list will depend on what you need to accomplish, but the blogosphere has some ideas on what your list could include.
Suite101.com has an article called How to Make a Christmas Checklist and suggests: Instead of just making a Christmas list and checking it twice . . .or three times, take a moment to make a dynamic checklist that will really help you prepare for the holidays.
The article goes on to advise
- Breaking Your Christmas List Into Useful Sections
- Doing Your Christmas Homework First
- Not Forgetting the Price
- Getting Your Christmas Shopping Done in a Day With a Timeline
Dena Pasis, in her article Organize Your Holiday Gift List, suggests using a spreadsheet to keep track of who to buy for:
Using your spreadsheet, list all the people you want to purchase gifts for in the first column. In the second column, record the maximum amount that you are prepared to spend and remember to account for taxes. If you have a large list, you may want to assign separate columns for family, friends, co-workers, etc.
Regan at Divine Caroline says
Make a list and identify three must do’s for the day and make them happen. . .Some activities may get dropped from the list this year due to energy expenditure or economic resources. That is okay—better to be realistic and healthy on January second!
FlyLady.net has lists like no one else! Kelly's Holiday Cruising Missions are bite-size lists that keep coming so you're ready by the big day.
Leave That Holiday 'To Do' List in a Drawer is an older article (from September, 2007), but it offers sage advice for those of us who, once our lists are made, tend to fret over the incomplete tasks:
Don't take your mental "to do" list with you when you go to bed, advises Ralph Downey, chief of sleep medicine at the Sleep Disorders Center at Loma Linda University Medical Center in California. . ."If you are a 'to do' list maker, one thing to do is leave your list in a drawer in your desk. Make your 'to do' list early in the evening. Put your completed list in a drawer and close it. This gives you a sense of closure -- the 'to do' list is done," Downey said.
Melanie Nelson writes many bulleted lists at Blogging Basics 101.