Facing the week and defacing the list…

I know, you saw the title and panicked: Danielle’s going to lecture us about lists again. Well I’m not, I mean I am, but not in the same way as before! You see, I was reflecting the other day on my top tips for organisation and to be honest there are only really two:

1.       Make a list

2.       Get on and do it

There are some time management bits within there but essentially that’s my whole mantra so then I was thinking about the whole list thing. I’ve talked before about how you can make lists work for you if you’re not a linear person and why I think they’re brilliant but what I’ve not mentioned before is that a list is a pretty key part of how I use my list every week and that is that all lists are a:

WORK IN PROGRESS

You’re not writing the ten commandments in stone and nor should you (as that sort of inflexibility will frankly cause you to have a stress breakdown). So when you’re writing that list on a Sunday night (that’s when I do mine so I’m mentally prepared for the week ahead) look at that as your basis for the week, the foundations on which you are going to build, the things that you really want (and/or need) to achieve. Then, as soon as 9am on Monday rolls round be prepared to add, amend, notate and generally scribble all over that list until it resembles something a lot more fluid and workable.

The fact is that nothing really ever goes perfectly to plan. My favourite saying (and one that is too often misquoted) is that “the best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry cause grief and pain”, pain is possibly a bit strong in this context, unless you’re talking an epic headache but you get the idea in this scenario. You will get calls, you will get emergencies, you will get system failures or people letting you down. You will get extra work or answers you didn’t expect back. You will get feedback, pushback or make mistakes and all of that is part of your list.

That list is an evolution of your week, your thought process and you should use it as such – I add little notes to mine (like if I’ve sent an email but need a reply I add that but don’t tick the item off), I add new items that need doing, I add phone numbers or reminders. Sometimes I even rewrite a whole new list for the week if it is getting too messy. Sometimes I write mini lists for the next day so I can break it down into more manageable chunks and targets.

Your list is a living breathing thing not a fixed point in time. I personally type mine up, mostly so the recurring items are already done and I just overlay the current stuff, but in addition to that it means that new notes stand out as they’re hand written. That might not be for everyone, but it works for me. I use different bullet points for different things (reminders are stars, actions are bullets, notes are lines, important are arrows), I use colour, I use every inch of space and sometimes both sides of the paper… my point is that you need to do what works for you. That list is a visual representation on Monday morning of what your goals are for the week and on Friday afternoon shows you all the amazing things you’ve done.

Use your list, it’s not decoration, it’s there to stop that grief and pain!