My Master List allows me to see - from a long and broad view - over time - patterns and synchronicities as well as those things that are dis-harmonic, things that will likely be edited off and cast away. It allows me a place to capture those little details that might slip through a crack in life. It is from my Master List that I plan an plot my days, weeks and months … years, even. From the Master smaller, manageable lists are made, just like the one I made today.
Recent challenges have captured my attention to pan to how I use and execute the things from my Master List. So much of my ToDoing had been feeling disjointed and scattered. So this past week I started scheduling the tasks and events, the ToDos just like in the old days of my corporate life. I've been feeling "too" airy and less grounded than pleases me, and this little shift in focus, choice and action seems to not only be working well, but also nourishing some hungry part of me in need of rigid structure.
I'm not sure how I feel about this - not being a loyal fan of structure, but it's working for me now and I will sustain this practice for as long as it feels right.
I look back at today and see that I not only accomplished what I set out to do, but exceeded my listed expectations by doing even more, and as a bonus for looking closely at this day, I honed my awareness of this rather magical tool of mine: My Master List.
That's what I made today. Peace.
9 comments:
Dang! Well, then, a list seems spectacular! You are such an inspiration!
I am a listmaker but I don't know about a master list...not sure how that would work...I tend to be a rebel.
LOL Lisa!
Rebel? Excuse me Cindy, have we met? :D If *I* can do, so can you. Not only that, but it shifts and changes with me - I think that's the holding power for me!
I'm a listmaker myself, and I can appreciate the need for structure, even for those of us (myself included) who are not fans of structure. One thing my husband and I were discussing tonight was a fellow he works with who, instead of only making lists of things that have yet to be done, makes lists of things he accomplished for a given time period. We agreed that sometimes it is important to take stock in what you have accomplished, rather than just cross things off the list. As a big user of "Tasks" in MS Outlook, Access and other programs, my husband has always been of the habit of simply deleting a task from the system once it was completed, but I think he might stop doing that, at least for a little while. Me, I'll just stick to my lists, with a big check mark next to the things that are done! Those are very satisfying!
i admire you...lol. i'm so not a list maker, but a fan of routine & to some extent of structure. go figure. having a child with leaning challenges & who tends to run on the anxious/worry side of things jeremy gathers comfort from his routine. for example he knows the routine in the morning is up, breakfast, getting dressed, brush teeth & wash, make sure he has his stuff ready for school & then wash breakfast dishes if time. so that's pretty much the 'routine' now if only one dish gets washed then so be it i don't stress over that part. i feel grounded when we have a good routine structure in place, but i don't get bogged down by the little details. to give another example the routine is we clean on Saturday, but instead of following a list of what needs to be cleaned we clean for a certain amount of time for us it's usually 30 mins. i set the timer & we clean what we can in that 30 mins. works for me. i can still be pretty organic i feel within my routine. okay i don't think i'm making any sense...lol.
I'm a huge list maker - a day, a week but I'll have to sit with and write out a master list - the "exercise" could do me good. I also like structure at least in the basic framework - there needs to be room to flex and flow within the structure
Hmmm. You sound a lot like me- complete conflict between a check-check-list person, and an artist.
I too am a list maker! I love looking back when I'm feeling unproductive and being able to see on paper, everything that I have gotten done.
Yay for lists!
Vicki
I achieve such a feeling of accomplishment when I look through my weekly list and see that most things were completed. Anything from one day that cannot be done, gets shifted to the next. By Sunday, I go through all that remains and by doing that, I seem to accomplish a lot. But, if an opportunity comes along to play or do something out of the ordinary, I just move everything from that days list and go for serendipity!
Thanks for posting about your Master List. I may rename mine and put it into an art journal form.
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