I love lists. Actually, what I really get off on is crossing stuff off lists. So much so, that I’ll even admit to making a list that includes items I’ve already completed just so I can have the satisfaction of drawing a line through them. Those little lines of completion, a measure of self-satisfaction to this goal-oriented anal-retentive….or should I say, to this formerly goal-oriented anal-retentive.
Lately, procrastination and its ugly stepsister, justification, have reared their ugly heads and created chaos out of my order. I can sort of keep my head above water when I succeed at keeping them apart. But when the two of them get together to have a tea party? Whoo-boy, my to-do list can end up with as many line items as the combined Christmas list of all the fifth-graders in Las Vegas. And with nary a crossed-out line item to be seen.
Lately I’ve found that moving around as I do makes it so much worse—I can leave projects behind and almost forget about them. Almost. Despite my best efforts they gambol about in the dark recesses of my mind like unloved puppies begging for attention. But while their whine is worse than their bite, I can ignore them and go blithely on.
Until they finally gnaw through my self-delusion and shut me down with the nip of reality.
I hate it when that happens—my characters stop talking to me. Fantasy life derailed.
I don’t know what happened—I used to be organized. I was the left-brain girl. Heck, I studied accounting! Against my will, mind you, but I did it. And then I went to law school…then on to tax law. Trust me when I tell you organization is a key ingredient in that world.
But then I discovered writing. Who knew I could do a right-brain thing? The more in love I fell with writing, the more I sank into the whole artiste thing. Any sacrifice for my art—and I gladly let things in the real world slide to make time to play in my made-up world. First dinners became simpler… then they became take-out. Bills didn’t get paid when they arrived; they got paid twice a month… then once a month… now only when they catch up with me. Days can pass before I return phone calls. Emails pile up so quickly that I made a new rule: when I have more than 100 to be answered, I just delete them all. I figure if they’re important, whoever sent them will do so again.
All of this is hyperbole, of course, but you get my point: I have become a major slacker.
I need help. And, since I don’t have the budget to hire a Keeper, I’m going to have to figure out how to balance the responsibilities of the real world, with those of the creative world.
Any ideas? How do you keep your life in balance?
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I’ve never been super-organized. Sure, sometimes I make to-do lists. Sometimes I even look at them. But I’m at the point in my life where if things get done, they get done and if not… :shrug: The only suggestion I have is to prioritize as much as you can. Get the crucial things out of the way first thing in the morning – like paying bills and checking email – and do the non-crucial things when you can.
Just a suggestion from a long-time slacker. ;o)
But then prioritizing involves making a list:)
Deborah, I fear it’s a lost cause. No one is more organized or better at crossing off lists than I once was. Then I began writing as a career and, well, there’s just never enough time or sufficient inclination anymore. I’d rather be writing!
I knoW!!! Now I drown in a sea of stickie-notes….which I never get around to reading. I’m lost…
You mean I’m supposed to be organized?? The only thing I’m specifically “organized” about–grocery shopping on Weds (the family does need to eat) and laundry 2x a week. I do like clean clothes.
I will say, I love lists too!! Good luck!!!
I have a list! It’s right… around… here… someplace… *sigh*
I was organized when The Only was home. She had A Schedule(tm)–school, sports, extracurricular activities. Once she got married and moved out? I have all these lovely lined notepads Only sticks in my Christmas stocking each year because she remembers my
formerlove of lists. Some of them are still in the wrapper.I surface into the real world when a) the dogs demand to go out (or in); b) the cat lays on my lap/keyboard/in front of my monitor; c) my stomach growls.
After I sold my first book, I bought everyone two weeks worth of underwear. That worked for awhile. Dinners are simple, when I remember to set meat out to thaw. Luckily we have a couple of good take-out places–Greek, subs, BBQ.
Bills. I pay them as they come in. On-line, if possible. Laundry. That gets done when I can’t walk past the hamper for the clothes cascading over the top. Shopping. I hate shopping. It ranks with housecleaning. Both are reserved for writers block. Amazing how quick I can get ideas that return me to the keyboard. Also, I buy food in bulk.
Good luck, Deborah!
Yup, I aspire to be you….I’l just quit worrying about it and let it go:) Until I need clean clothes or food….
Organized. Right Deborah. Riiiiight. I mean, I do the best I can, but shit keeps piling up to be graded and it never goes away until summer time.
I wish I had an answer, but if lists don’t do it, only thing I know is to try timed lists. Before bed each night, what HAS to be done, and then everything else can wait. Cross that off the next day.
If that doesn’t work, I got nothin’. Best of luck with it, though!
I’m just like you with the lists! Have them going all the time. I’ve been known to write stuff on my hand if I really need to remember.
Me, too. I even get up in the middle of the night to make a note….
OMG. I START the day with my coffee and a mini notebook. I make a list of what I need to do, what I didn’t complete yesterday, what I need to do tomorrow. Remember in school when we had to diagram sentences?? My list looks like that, with lists under lists. I get exhausted just LOOKING at it. I am going to be stalking this post to see if anyone has the solution (other than therapy). I just added to my list to check back here in an hour.
With great difficulty! I have lists of lists, I finish one and another appears!
yikes, i have no idea! of necessity, i govern myself with an iron fist when it comes to financial matters and scheduling time with family. but everything else sorta happens…or not…when it happens. I feel for you!
Lists…I think they get together and propagate when we aren’t looking:)
Hi Deborah – as a fellow artiste (portrait art), the only way I get things done – home, family time, painting – is to have my calendar list. My computer is my blessing. My calendar items have reminders. I can choose to respond to the reminder or delay it or dismiss it. But at least the information comes up for me to review and decide. When I am painting (and this time is scheduled since I also run the gallery), I have an alarm on my phone for the most important reminders (like picking up my daughter from rehearsals for plays and school events). This way, my reminders don’t get lost in piles of papers and they are ongoing and flexible. In this day and age, putting things on paper just doesn’t make sense anymore.
All the best! Kathy
I don’t know if I’m super organized, because I don’t mind a little clutter or an unmade bed now and then. I love lists, because it’s the feeling I get of accomplishing something if I can get it crossed off. It has helped me keep track of what books I have read and some I still need to read. Lists don’t have to be a necessary evil.
Even in terms of keeping my life in balance: there’s a time for work and there’s a time for play and personal time. It’s just all about how you manage your time.