List

The great thing about having a husband that reads your blog is, that when you make a list of "things your feeling the need to do" on your blog, and he reads it, then all of a sudden, he's doing those things. That happened, and was completely unexpected. My last blog of giving an example in a day of my life, inside my head, and what all was on my mental To Do list - was all that was needed to have those things completed. David has practically single handedly set about getting those things completed. And I thank him so very much. I am grateful that he is a take-action-kind-of-guy, and just does things like that, and I appreciate it more than he knows. The donkeys got their Pour On fly repellant (well, Papa is a tough one to get it on him because he's not a fan), we mucked the stalls and chicken areas, we mowed, and David screwed the guard pups dog bowls into the fence (silly dogs). The cat's tail has been checked, and double checked to ensure it's healing okay and in addition we did paint the newly fenced sections and gates. David even topped it all off with making a wooden fence thingie that goes around our air conditioner, so it's not such an eye sore. He makes most everything seem easy to do. Lay flagstone on the patio? Done. Ask and you shall receive. Thank you for always making things so fast, and making what is hard, look easy.
All this has me thinking lately about To Do lists. Sometimes I write them down, other times I keep them in my head. But lately, I've really been thinking about this concept of Checklist. I recently listened to the audio book, Outer Order, Inner Calm by Gretchen Rubin. A few years back I went to a book signing of hers in Plano, when I first started reading one of her books, The Happiness Project. After writing a few more books all related to happiness, she has written Outer Order, Inner Calm, which is a quick read and her newest book about making more room in our lives for happiness. It's a book you'd read and think, 'I know this already, thanks for reminding me'. I did find many nuggets in this book, one being the difference between To Do list and Checklist. I have never in my whole life given these lists much thought, but there's such a huge difference in them. A subtle, but big difference. Why have I not utilized it to my own advantage? My whole life has been To-Do listing, and I've left out Checklist, like it was some foreign bad disease or something.
Finally, something has reached inside me and decided that maybe Checklist could help me out. I'm not exactly sure yet, but I'm in the process of figuring it out. Gretchen Rubin's book somehow lit a lightbulb inside me: Checklist - Documented process, for something you do regularly - or daily. How to do a particular process. It could be a Check List for going on vacation (what to pack every time) or taking the boat out (processes, needed items and things to bring each time). Checklist are used in our work places on a regular basis, sometimes not actually called a Checklist, but they are. MeThinks I've underestimated the power of the Checklist. Note to self: Cultivate where you may benefit from Checklist in your life.
Now, To-Do lists are my jam. Written or mental, I like them a lot. They help me create order, certainly help me remember things, and remind me - which I find very important at this particular time in my life. To Do list are a very ad lib thing for me, adding and subtracting from it, very fluid and typically ephemeral. Yes, sometimes it can get too long, so I try to keep it manageable and what should/might be at the top of the priority chain. None the less, To Do list are my go-to for all things that need to be outlined, noted and for lack of a better word.....listed out. Spelled out in front of me. It's motivation, it's about completion, and it's just fun to cross things off as you do them. It helps me feel a sense of accomplishment. Plus I don't tend to overlook things when there's a list. What I meant to say was, forget to do them.
Back to the "vs" part of this. For me, defining the difference between the Checklist vs the To Do list is where it get interesting (Lauren's favorite word - "That's interesting"). When you are using a Checklist, that's effectively acting like a To Do list, right? Building a list of steps you might want to perform (repeatedly for effective time management) is a Checklist. But when you're using the Checklist, it has become like a To Do list. After all, it is a list of what to do.
Does it really matter? An effective Checklist could help me get things done the right way, the first time. This could save me time. Not having to rethink things I do on a regular basis, and having it spelled out on a Checklist has the potential to make life easier, and provide time back in my life. Time that I spend thinking and rethinking the processes that I do regularly. Why not make a Checklist for those things, and make it a no-brainer? I feel like Checklist have the potential to bring a little quality to some of the processes I do around here. My To Do list are not nearly as structured as a Checklist could be. Yeah, I would need to put time into making these so called Checklist. But then it's done - and can be easily referenced for future time savings.
I don't know if I'm sold yet on it. I'm going to have to put more thought into this. I've already begun a slow (and I mean slow) journey to having a place for everything, and everything in it's place. I thought I had been living my life like that. But, no, not really. That was just a story I would tell myself, and a belief I had - that has been recently burst. Did you see The Home Edit's new book? Oh my gawd. I follow them on Insta, and can't even believe organizing like that can look like art. But it does. The organization of the things in our house can bring about less chaotic feelings, inner calm and the ability to find things when your need them - or are looking for them. How much time have I wasted in my life looking for things?! Too much, likely. If The Home Edit and organizing podcasts/books weren't so popular, I may not feel so bad about it all. I didn't used to.
Part of it all is that as I age, I need this type of organization. To know where things are, what I have, what I don't have. How not to have too much stuff in the pantry ("store it at the store", thank you Gretchen Rubin) and how clutter attracts clutter. If I can't find it, I won't use it. I have literally been focusing on discarding and rightsizing my things now for a few years. Now, I'm getting to a stage of organizing it better. Having things at my fingertips - and knowing where things are (and putting them back in their place after they have been used - kudos to David with great progress in that area) are two things that ring my bell. The less I have, the easier that is.
Luckily, in these days of Organization (jazz hands) and Minimal Living (I'm so trying, without great success, as it's an ongoing process for sure) I love the opportunity it brings of education and awareness. We all will find our own ways of creating order and maintaining our things. I surge forward in it all, then coast awhile. But I really love that there are so many resources available to pick from and gain great ideas from which to improve upon managing all our things.
And while my To Do list tell me what I'm supposed to do, my potential Checklist serves to ask me if I've done what's supposed to have been done. I'm going to have to let this all marinate a little more before I decide on investing my time into Checklist. I think I will, just not sure where to start. Kind of like my laundry room shelves. I bought the new plastic bins to provide new homes for things. But where to start. You know, I have to be in the mood to do it, or it just ends up looking like I threw it all together. I'm waiting for the mood to strike.

Cyndi

Childhood Reflection Note:

I remember that each weekend we would either "do the yard" or "clean out the garage" - and sometimes, both. We had a two car garage, and from what I recall, a car never fit inside the garage because it was full of stuff. Lots of stuff. As a child, I never understood why we were continually "cleaning out the garage", only because we never seemed to be cleaning it, but just moving it all around instead. I feel like my Dad really might have been saying, 'Let's organize the garage' and it came out as 'Let's clean the garage'. Each time we cleaned the garage, we would move it all around, barely fitting in the space to do so, and by the time we were done - it looked like it did when we started. Sometimes, when Dad was feeling extra rambunctious, we would take everything out of the garage, and then we would put it all back in, like putting a puzzle together that never really fit. I don't remember us getting rid of things, and it seemed more like we kept a lot of things that we did not use. These are all memories, and I was young, so I likely don't have the story straight. But I can see that garage in my head, and no matter what, you better turn the light on when you walked in it - because there were only certain pathways to move around it. That image is what I now refer to as Clutterclumuation. That garage was a magnet for all things. I decided at a young age that I did not want to spend weekends cleaning out the garage. Now, when in doubt, I toss it out (recycle or rehome it). If I'm not using it, it needs to go. It's a work in progress, as I have to continually keep going through it all and doing this. It's not a one-time thing. It's a progression and over time, areas with clutter are gone through, and then gone through again. It takes time to let go. This all was a valuable lesson I learned young. Thanks, Dad.