Lists, lists and more lists

As you will have gathered from the title of the blog, today I want to talk about making lists.

I'm the kind of person who likes to have things pretty organised, in loads of different aspects of my life. I like to know what jobs I have that still need to be done, I like to know how much money I've spent, and loads of other things such as those. Due to this I often write up quite a few lists to help keep things organised.

It wasn't till quite recently however that I noticed the usefulness of these lists in actually getting me to get on with work and setting certain milestones. This is similar to what I was talking about in last weeks blog, about setting myself yearly goals instead of resolutions. By setting myself specific goals, rather them resolutions I feel as if I have something I can measure, something I can tick off and say that I have done. Lists are an extension of this.

What I have been doing recently primarily with regards to university work, is to write out a list of small tasks that have to be completed for each piece of work, sometimes with a deadline attached, and then I am able to tick each task off when its done. Furthermore by writing done small task instead of huge ones, you feel as if you are being more productive and getting more work completed, which makes you feel quite proud.

Lists are also useful in this regards because you have something tangible that reminds what you have to do. They are also useful in making you feel somewhat accountable and guilty when you don't do the work, acting as a form of incentive.

Doing this has actually been really useful, and I do recommend it if you currently lacking in motivation for something you know you really should be doing. Hopefully others out there may find this useful too.