The ToDo List

We have a problem with ToDo lists in our household. They're never-ending.


We're incapable of looking at a list and saying, "Well, I've done everything on the list." There's always something else we can add.


Typically, that list resides in my head as I'm overwhelmed by actually writing down everything that I need and want to do. It looks scarier in print, and my life is typically simple enough that I don't need a master list. But right now, I'm helping plan an Easter Egg Hunt between two churches and a daycare. There's a lot to do. An anxiety-inducing list of details to think about.


So to reduce the anxiety, I'm writing it all down. It's helping immensely. But I'm writing down everything now, not just the Easter stuff. It's a long list. An-8.5 x 11-sheet-of-paper-in-portrait-mode-filled-with-smallish-writing-long list. But writing it down allows me to clear it from my brain. So I don't worry about forgetting something. I'm discovering that the crazy-long list brings peace. Especially when I look at most of the things crossed off. It's pretty awesome.

Yes, there are mundane things that normal people don't have to write down. But I do.  Don't laugh.

But here's the problem. As I'm running out of paper and transitioning to a new week, I took the last few things off the list and transferred them to fresh paper. I think it was maybe 5 things. But in the transfer, I added a few. My list somehow exploded again. Yikes.

This is how next week's list STARTED. Gulp.

But with the 50 bazillion interruptions I get on a typical day at home, I find the list to be centering and quite helpful in completing ANY task. And it's nice to know, at the end of the week, when my house is a disaster yet again, I actually DID get some things done during the week. 


My list is my witness.