A big to-do over To Do (lists)

If you were to know me in person, it would probably surprise you that I love lists. LOVE them. Oh, the promise of organization and order is just delicious. I love making them, I love ranking the items IN the list... I'm list happy!

The other shocking thing: When I make a list, I actually use them. They really do work for me, to have a step-by-step process of some sort, a checklist of things to do.

The problem: I don't make lists that often! I know, right? I'm a nutbag.

At this point in my life, the list of to-do's is overwhelming. There is so much crap I need to do, and my lack of list-making is doing me a disservice, esp. considering how well the strategy works for me.

So my task today (a.k.a. way to avoid working on actual work) is to make a MASSIVE to-do list - every thing I've been meaning to accomplish as of late is being written in a WORD document, and printed out first thing Monday at work. Then it's being posted somewhere obvious; I'm thinking the linen closet, since it's right across from my bedroom door.

Then the next part of this whole Massive To-Do list: DO IT. I'm setting a small goal: Knock 1 thing off the list every day. Just one. Most of the tasks are small, and big ones (like "Clean the damn living room/ bathroom/ bedroom/ other room that is disgusting and I need to clean, dammit") are being broken into the small steps that conclude with the room being clean. I'm also throwing in a couple of things that I've been wanting to do for myself, and yet keep putting off (like painting my nails, giving myself a facial mask, y'know, the little pampering bits). Those have been spread out amongst the list at random, also, so if I'm going straight down, there will be nights where I'm doing something that improves ME, if not necessarily the house. I'm just going to go down the list, one by one, and (hopefully!) knock 'em out. If I miss a day, no doubling up or beating myself up; just get back on the wagon the next day and knock one out.

I've been toying with this idea for a while; if I do it first thing when I get home, it shouldn't be so arduous; usually sitting down is the danger that gets me in "ahhhh, I'm not gonna do SH**" mode when I come home. So that's the goal, and hopefully having it in a highly visual place will make it tougher for me to ignore. Despite the fact that I ignore my dusty coffee table and various piles of clutter... and the dishes in the sink... hrm.

Anyway, I'm trying it. Here's to new starts!