The Love Life of a To Do List

I am caught up in the glow of a new relationship.  A friend introduced us and it’s been a whirlwind romance since then.  It keeps track of things for me and lets me know what needs to happen without being pushy.  I see this relationship going far.

ToDoist.com is my new crush.  It’s an online ‘personal task manager’ where you can enter your tasks, add a date, color code, and mark them important.  You can drag them into a nesting list like an outline, keeping all your tasks together.  It’s great for keeping all those little things that need to happen in every project together. 

I’m currently using the free version, but I can see myself getting the paid version in the future.  There are more features, like notes and reminders, in the paid version.  ToDoist can also be attached to Firefox.  Instead of having to open a new tab and flip back and forth, Firefox will put a button on your toolbar and maximize / minimize a small section for you.  It’s pretty nifty for home use.

I have a terrible habit of thinking a project won’t take very long because I forget all the little details that have to be accomplished.  ToDoist lets me plop down my basic idea / project, then start filling it up with all the little things that need to be done.  Then it will remind me when I need to get them done.  You can also set recurring tasks, so I don’t have re-enter when all my meetings are. 

My previous To Do list was written on multiple pieces of paper (normally whatever I had on hand), my white board, and my writing notebook.  I can’t take my laptop on errands with me, but at least I can keep track of the errands I should be doing from week to week.

If you haven’t tried out ToDoist yet, you might want to think about it.

Write: What Do You Have?

Exercise:  Set ten minutes to look around you, noticing the items and things that surround you.  Make a list of those items.  Once you are done with your list, go back and quickly right down an association for each item.  Write what it means to you, a spark of meaning, a correspondence, a moment of memory. 

Take another ten minutes and choose one item to include in your writing.  It could be the associations with the item.  Or the item could be a random item in the room.  Or the item could be the whole of the writing.  Just write.

TV - too much time
Lamp - light in darkness
Couch - worn
Coffee table - survivor
Plants - growth
End table - sturdy
Gnomes - spirits
Bookshelves - knowledge
Handmade mug - welcoming home
Child's art work - pride and beauty
Unpacked boxes - procrastination, old life

The shelves are overflowing.  Two layers of paper on top of each other, two rows of books on one shelf.  Each occupant is snugged against it's brother with care, lovingly worn at the corners and binding.  Each one has a story to tell, a voice of their own. 

My fingers glide over the bindings, following the flow of letters.  This one, this one was great.  That one made me cry.  And that other one, that's the one that kept me laughing all night.  Each story is a piece of my own.  Each piece a thread in the tapestry of my life, and your life, and the life of those yet to come.

Down beneath it all.  Beneath the titles and the authors, beyond the characters and settings, underneath everything, runs a joining thread.  The same stories play out over ages and civilizations.  But each is unique in the trappings and characters, but they all run together in the end.

Write: Summer Break

Exercise:  "What I Accomplished on my Summer Vacation"

Make a list of things (aim for ten or more) that you have accomplished this summer.  Did you build or fly a kite?  Go swimming?  Go to a theme park?  When finished with the list, put a few notes behind each of those topics.  Keep this in your note book or bulletin board where you can easily access it.  This will be a list of things to write about later if you need a create boost.

1.  Adventureland:  Lots of rain, courage, sense of accomplishment.

2.  Swimming:  Friends, cool water, hot cement

3.  Public transportation:  Cold air, quiet hum, talking to strangers

4.  Grilling:  Smoke, sizzle, relaxing

5.  Moving:  Space, settled

6.  Garage Sales:  Seeking, fun, relaxing, good deals  

7.  Writer's Group:  Taking the lead, standing up, good ideas

8.  Birthday:  Friendship, telemundo, hilarious

9.  Bike riding:  Fun, relaxing, quiet mornings, childhood memories

10.  Being Outside:  New bench, peaceful, surrounded by trees, temple-like