Being organised - The joy of lists!

Let me proudly stand up and announce, AA-style, that my name is Caroline and I am addicted to lists. To be completely honest, it’s also stationery and all things organisation-based, but I do love a list.

Whether it be for tasks I need to undertake that day or clothes I need to pack for a holiday, there is nothing better than making a list and then ticking each item off as you complete it.

As a Virtual Assistant, a list is almost vital to my day as I need to know what I am doing and for which client. It helps to prioritise my day and the tasks I need to do and it allows me to delegate where necessary. They also help me accurately record how much time I spend on each piece of work so invoicing is easier and clearer for both myself and the client.

I do it in my personal life too if I have a particularly hectic period coming up or I know that there are things that I do not want to forget such as tunes to download to the ipod or plans and ideas for birthdays. I can quite easily tell you what I bought everyone for Christmas three years ago and how much I spent! (Is that a good or a bad thing?) A good website for inspiration or just to see who else writes lists is www.listsofnote.com where you can see Johnny Cash’s to do list, Nora Ephron’s list of things that she would or would not miss and the turkey recipes of F Scott Fitzgerald. There is now a huge list of books that you can buy about other people’s to do lists and the stationery you need in order to compile your own - Amazon lists over 75,000 items when you put ‘to do list’ in the search box. Of course, we are now in 2012 and so there are also online alternatives such as www.familyfridge.com, as seen on Dragon’s Den, which allows you to create gift lists, share calendars and shopping lists as well as managing your family’s events and there is an app for list making too. However, there is nothing like writing a list on a clean piece of paper every morning to get your thoughts in order.

There is a time and a place for lists though when dealing with other family members. My husband sighs and rolls his eyes when I mention the L word. My daughter quite likes them and will often make her own with regards to chores she might need to do – she is only 9 however so I am expecting her to grow out of that and more into the sighing and eye rolling any minute now.

For work, I cannot get by without a list as it keeps my brain in some sort of order and it allows me to focus. If it’s not a to-do list that I make in the morning, then I write down tasks as they come up and delight in ticking those off too. For me, it will always have to be a handwritten list – preferably in the same notebook so I can keep a track of what I did on what day, should I need to refer back. I cannot imagine a life without some sort of list which is why I am never happy unless I have something to make a list about. The sighing and eye rolling will just have to continue.