The Daily Checklist | Ta-Da List | or Post-it Notes that litter a planner

Lifestyle

Nov 29

Written By Andrea | Chapter 50

post-it notes on a board, checklists, chapter 50 musings

The Checklist | Ta-DA! List | or Post-it Notes

If we could crinkle down all the people of the world into categories, we would get three kinds::

1/ Those who make lists
2/ Those who do not
3/ Those who fly like a bird and see where the day takes them

Oh, those ‘fly-by-their-made-from-recycled-tires-pants’ people are saving our planet one post-it note at a time. And I thank them for it.

Unfortunately, my brain isn’t calibrated not to make checklists. I make daily checklists, packing lists, checklists for my photography business, shopping lists {that one is digital, so I’m helping the planet out there}, and post-it lists for the tasks that may –most likely, probably, not– be completed that day and need re-sticking to another day in my planner.

B and I have been together over 30 years. He and his profession have perfected said checklist. When you’re with someone for all that time, habits start to spread between you like that warm Cinnabon frosting that you try to stay away from, but there’s no way that’s going to happen.

I wasn’t always a list person, but then…marriage. I’ve ALWAYS been a Cinnabon fan though!

Mars Vs Venus…✔️

The big joke is that wives, over time, train their husbands in how they want things done. But in the last 20+ years, I have first-hand experience that hubbies are Ninja Masters in this too.

When I had a “list” for him, it was done in an instant. When I mentioned a task in passing, it could go undone from that day to infinity. It rotated right off his radar.

{My training had started}

“I see how you tick.” So if I wanted things done he got me to make a checklist. That is how the list-life flew from his work life into our house.

I adopted the checklist, but B and I approach said checklists differently…

Not all Checklists are Checked-off Equally

You give him a checklist when you want things done ASAP, whereas the bigger, more time-consuming tasks on my lists that I know I can’t –or won’t– finish right away, are written on post-it notes. This way, I can peel it off and move it to another day if I didn’t do it on its original sticking day.

Easy out – yes.

Avoiding the feeling of getting NOTHING accomplished that day – definitely yes!

I sit and look at my planner littered with colorful post-it notes over written lists on the dated page and wonder,

“Do I really think I’ll get all this done today, or do I just like all the pretty colors on the page?”

The answer is, YES! I try to get through my list, even if only one thing gets done, so that I can

1/ Say “TA-DA! I did this today!” and get that warm, accomplished feeling
2/ For the uncompleted stuff, I can move them to another day {post-it’s are a beautiful invention, and 3M deserves an Emmy or Pulitzer or Grammy or something} and still feel that accomplishment feeling

No doubt in my tiny little mind that my checklist strategy would drive B out of his ever-loving-type-A-mind. But in a marriage, you learn which things to share and which to keep closed on your desk so he doesn’t try to “fix-it” for you.

Here’s the crux of the checklist

Writing a list down, whether it’s in the planner or on a post-it in the planner, gives me an actionable list that, once written, can clear my brain, making things more manageable in my day {not so overwhelming}.

And on the Meno side of life, a list keeps me from forgetting to do things. In my Meno-Memory stage of life, I forget things sometimes –a lot– of the time.

Anyone else in The Chapter 50 have this symptom?

And that leads me down the rabbit-hole of thinking there are people that fall under category four…

4/ Those who make lists, but know deep in their sweet brains that completing one line on that checklist means success for the day.

Some days are like that – even in Australia – {One of my favorite books I read to E + N}.

At 50+, I’ve officially upgraded myself to a category 4, and I’m becoming okay with it.

1,347 things pop up in my day, each taking me in a different direction that my squirrel brain can’t always keep up with. If I have to move five post-it notes to a different day and only check two things off my list today – SO BE IT! –

I still say TA-DA! I’ve done something, and tomorrow is a new day!

And now, as I type this, I realize I’ve graduated from “I have to hustle in life” to “I’ll get there when I get there”.

As for B, I don’t think he’s there yet. He likes a finished list from top-to-bottom. And that’s okay too. I’m not going to fix him, and he won’t be able to fix me. After 28 years of marriage, we’ve both settled into not “fixing” each other’s differences.

Checklist sum-up

Make the list –or don’t make a checklist–
Complete it all today –or leave some excitement for tomorrow–
Hustle through your day – or nonchalantly make your way through –

Life today is too full of the either’s and or’s and not enough praise for the middle part. The gray area isn’t such a bad place. And when it comes to the get-’er-done checklists…the halfway gray seems to be my sweet spot in this last year.