Saturday, October 2, 2010

Write This Down

Is there anything that holds more promise than a new, yellow, legal pad?  I keep a legal pad and pen handy at home and on my office desk (actually they are letter size for easier filing).    On these pads I mostly write lists.  List making has become my cornerstone of organization.  I have filled these pads with lists of everything from daily errands and project to-do items, to my life masterplan.  Nothing is more fulfilling than crossing items off my lists!  It means I'm making progress, getting things done, mastering my universe, one line at a time!

Maybe this is a sign of old age.  When I was younger I prided myself on how much information I could keep in my head.  Now I find if I don't write it down the moment it occurs to me, it's liable to wander off into another room and crawl under the bed with the dust bunnies.  When I feel my world spinning out of control the act of making a list brings things back into perspective and all things seem possible again.

I love the idea of a large, framed chalkboard in a family kitchen. As opposed to the crazy quilt of magnets holding scraps of paper, calendars and crayon art on the refrigerator door (which, by the way, is the first area that has to be cleared when "de-personalizing" a house for sale), a chalkboard can be a fun and stylish way to keep track of family reminders and lists. Cork walls and french, upolstered memo boards work beautifully as well.

Like many of you, I have wonderful technology to help me function on a daily basis.  If I lost my iPhone or crashed my laptop....well, Houston we have a problem.  But, if God forbid, that should happen I still have my legal pad next to my bed with the really important list of things to do (not necessarily in this order):

1.  Travel
2.  Financial Freedom
3.  Health
4.  Entertain
5.  Relationship
6.  Joy
7.  Balance

Happy Organizing