I love "To Do" lists!

It is true!  I can't help myself from making lists especially To Do lists: grocery lists, wal-mart lists, chores around the house lists, daily work to do lists, lists about goals for the week/month/semester, lists of errands I need to run around the city, etc.!   At any given moment, I may have 5 or 6 To Do lists going.  Some are in my planner others hanging on the refrigerator or laying next to the bed. 

I love drawing lines through all the the things that I have accomplished, and I have been known for writing something on my To Do list just so that I can mark it off and feel accomplished.  I've got this down to an art.  For example, instead of writing "Read Chapters 1-3 for Class" on my To Do list, I will write:

• Read Chapter 1
• Read Chapter 2
• Read Chapter 3

Because then you get to mark THREE things off your to do list instead of just one :)

As the semester is coming to an end and the holidays are quickly approaching, you cannot begin to imagine the number of lists we have around the house!  Ha.  For some people, I do realize, this would be an awful feeling, but for me it helps me to feel like I have a game plan.  Plus, I cannot seem to remember a darn thing these days and a house full of post it notes was just not cutting it. 

Over Thanksgiving when we were traveling home, Adam and I made several To Do lists including:

• Things that needed to be done by the end of the semester
• House projects we wanted to accomplish during the Christmas break,
• A list of people to send Christmas cards to
• Plus another list of people who we still needed to get their address
• A list of Christmas gifts we wanted to buy

You may be thinking, "Mallory, what does Adam think about all those To Do lists?"  Ha.  Good question.

I actually think these lists have helped our communication a ton!  I am not always great at expressing what I need from him when I am overwhelmed and lists let him know some of what I need.  To be totally honest, at first, the lists did not help because he thought I wanted all of it done immediately, but I let him know that lists were just a way for me to organize myself.  Now, I think we have lots of shared meaning about our goals and priorities...thanks in large part to To Do lists! 

I think he even likes marking off tasks too.  Sometimes he will put his initials next to all the items that he completed and feel very proud because he did more than me :)  Don't tell him, but I am ok with him "winning" that little battle. 

Well, now I can mark "Write Blog" off my To Do list and move to the next thing!  What a productive day!