Lessons Learned From My Lists

I'm the first to admit it - I'm addicted to paper. I love notebooks, scrapbooking paper drives me crazy and I'd rather get a note in the mail than an e-mail any day. I even have the sweetest friend - she'll give me yellow notepads as gifts! How sweet is that!

My favorite use for paper, though, is my list. I have lists of everything: what I have to do today, where things are, plans for the future, ideas I have. I even have lists of my lists...how silly is that?

Seriously, there are lots of great benefits to being a list-maker. The best one in my opinion is being able to use my list to overcome my failing memory. At my age I shouldn't be having senior moments yet, but I am. When I have my list handy I don't have to worry about forgetting something super-important. When I have it written down in black and white, I can actually tackle the things on the list and not waste time thinking about what I should be doing.

Do you have a notepad next to the bed? One of the worst things we women can do is lay awake at night going over and over and over things instead of sleeping. When I have paper handy, I can do a quick brain-dump while I'm thinking about it (and most times I do mean quick), and then it's recorded and I don't have to keep rehearsing it. How much deeper could your sleep be if you could stop thinking?

It's also a blessing to have different notebooks for different lists. I have separate ones for household chores, daily activities that need to be accomplished, honey-do lists and things I'd like to see us accomplish over the next few weeks. Several lists may not work for you - you might want one master notebook with different sheets of paper. It's not about following one plan, but making a list system that works for you and your family.

My favorite list of all time is my grocery list. I have a word document on the computer separated just like the store is laid out. I can print it out each week and post it on the refrigerator, marking everything I need each day. This makes figuring out meals and refilling staples so much easier. There's also plenty of room to mark whether I have coupons and what's on sale. Adding to this list daily saves me from be out of an ingredient in the middle of cooking.

What kind of lists do you use? Would creating some new ones make your life easier? Would you worry less? Get your thoughts down on paper and you'll see what a blessing paper can be!

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