Half a Step Over

To Do or Not To Do: Where Is the List?

Like a lot of people, I have a to-do list. The question is: Where do I keep one? I’m crazed with this so I actually have several lists. The general ones, as in things I’d like to get done around the house, books I might want to read, things I’d just like to do, and similar ideas, live digitally. There again, I have several of those. One lives on my tablet, which I frequently take to work with me and I can see the list right out on the opening screen every time I, well, “open” it.

Digital Choices

Then there is Evernote, a digital way to keep lists, ideas, pictures. For me, it’s just for lists. Evernote lives on my laptop, my smartphone, and my tablet. I sync them whenever I make changes so, hopefully, I can find my lists whenever I want them—and add to them wherever I am. Evernote is where I keep multiple lists. So, I have a general to-do list; a supermarket list; my Costco list. At Thanksgiving time, which is a very big holiday in this household, I keep a separate shopping list, categorized by sections of the market to keep things easier.

The Paper Route

But to me, paper is really the only true way to keep a to-do list. And I have several ways to do that too. First, I have notebooks, the kind that come with bands around them and places to keep pens. Sometimes they are in my pocketbook, sometimes in a work tote bag, or sometimes just on the seat of the car. Yes, they can be a little unwieldy, but they are hugely useful when you want to make notes on what you have done. For example, I eventually want to replace my front doors. My son-in-law, who is in the renovation business, took measurements for me, and even drew a picture of the doors with the measurements needed. It all lives in the notebook; no, I don’t plan to order the doors just yet, but when I do, I have all the information I need. Plus, in a notebook I can keep an ongoing to-do list, with comments. As I finish something, I just cross it off. I can also go back into the notebooks to see what I once might have wanted to do, or to see how I handled similar topics. It offers me history to fall back on.

Then, courtesy of Levenger, I discovered vertical index cards. Everyone has the horizontal 3x5 cards, but for keeping to-do lists, the vertical cards are even better. They are much easier to keep just one list on; I don’t feel obligated to have 2 columns of thoughts because I’m on a horizontal base. These are for shorter lists, and are tossed when everything is marked off and done. Generally, I use any one card for no more than 2 or 3 days. For more important items, I usually just draw a red box around the to-do and make sure it happens first.

Everyone has a to-do system. I have a friend who for many years has sat down every night and made her list for the next day. She has even made lists for her husband so they each have their own tasks and nothing gets mixed. Mine are more stream of consciousness—as I think of what I need to do, I just write it down. It works for me.

What works for you?