Comments on: Cooking Turkey: Accomplishments and the Tyranny of Lists

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 10:40:25 +0000

I agree with Shannon, although I’m not particularly OCD or Type A. I think lists just help me put some structure into my day/week/month and help me plan out my life a little bit better than if I were just relying on habit or willpower to get me to do things. If I sit down and contemplate all the things I need to do + all the things I want to do, I tend to get overwhelmed, but if I can look at a list and break things down into smaller, digestible portions, it’s easier.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 10:17:13 +0000

I’m a list maker – always have been, always will be. Although I don’t always manage to make it through the list, checking everything off as I go, I do usually get a bunch of it done and that gives me a sense of accomplishment. I think some people are weighed down by lists and others are set free – I am firmly in the second category. I think it all comes down to your basic personality type – my type is typically the obsessive compulsive, neat freak, organizational wacko type, so it works for me!

By: Toby Wollin

Toby Wollin — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 01:11:05 +0000

If it works for you, Carolyn – that is great! I have made lists over the years and have felt defeated a lot of the time. What I’m doing works for me – what you do works for you. Either way, we are both getting some stuff done that we feel is important and that is the important thing.

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 19:49:01 +0000

I have to disagree vociferously. I made one of these lists a month ago, and I’m slowly but steadily crossing things off, and about 20% of the tasks are things that I do on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. Also, one of the biggest parts of 101-in-1001 is that you recognize that you’ll fail to accomplish a fair amount of what’s on your list; knowing that the world won’t implode if I don’t manage to cross every single thing off makes it easier to get things done, somehow.