Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
The Done List
In one of my favorite Frog and Toad stories, the shorter, more tightly wound Toad begins his day by writing a list of all the things he has to do. Shortly thereafter, the list blows away in the wind. The rest of the story is his pursuit of the list that always seems attainable, yet out of reach. Moby Dick for the wee ones. Toad is, of course, miserable, until tall, calm Frog suggests that they give up and go to sleep.
“That was the last thing on my list!” exclaims Toad, who then scratches, “Go to sleep” on the ground with a stick, crosses it out, and at last, goes to sleep.
Nothing like a little “To Do” list satisfaction to help one sleep. The Perfect Daughter is keen on lists, electronic or traditional paper. The digital list has the advantage of being neat and you hope, conveniently placed on the phone near you. But once an electronic task item is completed, it gets deleted and we miss out on the satisfaction of crossing it out. At the end of the day, the list is empty or worse, if we have added to it, no shorter than when we began. Great Sisyphus!
Paper lists affords one some room for notes in the margins, which is some of the best stuff you will ever write.
This brings me to the concept of the Done List. A client of mine recently started keeping a Done list in addition to a To Do list. Perfect genius! First of all- we do so much- but there is always more to do. So it is encouraging to see all the completed tasks tally up in the Done column.
On another level, the Done list keeps us honest. Yes, we are doing a lot- but are we actually doing what needs to be done? We can be sidetracked by the fun but nonessential task such as shopping the Hanna Andersson sale for children’s swimsuits while putting off phoning the bank about the online checking. By actually cataloging each action, we can analyze our own data. Are we sidetracked by low-priority items that maybe aren’t on the To Do list at all? Maybe we are trying to do an unrealistic number of things in a day.
So try a list and see what it tells you about you. If you can go digital, fantastic. But, if you, like Toad, and The Perfect Daughter, enjoy the satisfaction of crossing off items, that is fine, too. Lastly, consider keeping a Done list. It may be a very enlightening experience.