M Is For Make A List
I love making lists. Everyday in the morning, I make a list of all the things I have to finish during the day. I even list the daily routine tasks such as exercise, cooking, helping my daughter with her homework, talking to friends on it. At the end of the day, I like to take stock of all the tasks I accomplished. This helps me to plan my next day. But most importantly, I like to see all those ticks against the completed tasks. That gives me joy.
I also prepare a list a day before travelling of all the things I need to put in the bag before leaving such as chargers, my electronic devices. I prepare a list of last minute tasks before travelling. I write down stuff such as switch off the main gas pipeline, Check if the geyser is switched off, all lights and fans are switched off. All these things goes into the list. This makes me organised and saves me the trouble of second guessing myself while on the trip. It also saves me for worrying about taking the safety measures before leaving.
Some might say, that rather than giving joy a To-Do list would overwhelm but I feel the sense of accomplishment of completing the tasks at the end of the day and it does bring happiness. If you are not used to making lists then it might overwhelm you initially but take my word it will help once you are used to this habit.
I also took lot of time to manage and get most of the tasks checked on my To-Do list. There were times when I was unable to finish even half of the tasks except for the routine household chores, but preparing the list gave me an idea of ways to plan my day. I was able to ascertain the time I take to finish a particular task and become more organised. Even today, I haven’t been able to check complete all the tasks. It happens. But preparing lists has certainly made me more efficient. I do not procrastinate and it has increased my productivity. In the process, I have also learnt to account for some emergency tasks which just come during the day. Like today, I had a schedule urgent calls with students after CBSE’s directive on board exams since they were concerned about their future and so I couldn’t read blog posts. However, because of better planning I could make a quick dinner and found time to finish writing the blog post. Now, it’s time to read. Still one more call scheduled with a parent so finished my dinner early. And all this can be done without stress because I made a list.
Do let me know, if you make lists? I use a diary to make a list, do you use any app for the same. Do share.
I am participating in #BlogchatterA2Z .
To read what else gives my joy click on :
G Is For Gazing At The Night Sky