Thursday, November 17, 2011

Making a List

(Note to readers: I call all my children 'Baby' - that's how I see them.   Also, they refuse to let me use their names in my blog.) 



I'm enjoying the preparations for Baby's wedding and the activities connected to this happy family occasion.   And Christmas is just over a month away - I love this time of year.  

Things are busy in our home.   I guess it is true that I am a list making control freak and when I look down at a To Do List that looks more like a state road map than a cute little list of ten items or less, I feel a bit 'off.'   I feel like... you know that queasy feeling you get when you're going to fly, not because you're about to sit in a chair in the sky, but because you have to be at the airport at a specific time or they won't let you go with them?  I feel a bit like that.

Everything, fun stuff to serious stuff has a deadline, there are no "When you get around to it" kind of projects that I like.  Yes, I have my priorities and I'm working my list from the top to the bottom, but sometimes I find myself working on a project in the middle of another project and making a list for something else.

Lately, standing in the check out line, I feel the covers of magazines are shouting to me that I would be more efficient if I did one task at a time "Stop Multi-Tasking, take control of your time and your life and get more done!"  One human to another - please tell me when did people not multi-task?  We used to call it life.  Maybe we just notice the multi-tasking because we now take the time to write down the all the stuff that has to get done.

I'm trying to do it all with a smile on my face, maybe even a song in my heart.  A smile - not a grimace.  A song in my heart - a happy song, not "Wanted Dead or Alive."

One of my non-wedding tasks to accomplish was "Put up outside Christmas lights."  Scheduled for after the wedding - I have it right here on my list.  Guess what, I did it.  Well, actually I hired a company to do it (sometimes you just have to delegate).  A little ahead of our usual time, but they were in the neighborhood on Wednesday so I worked with their schedule.  We can wait to turn the lights on. 


Turned them on for just a few minutes to take this shot. 
Probably somewhere in the neighborhood someone is commenting on the
crazy neighbors who already have their Christmas lights up.

Job done, check mark on To Do List, ready to move on to another task.  Smile on my face, song in my heart - a Christmas song, I think.  Yep, I can hear it now, "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer."




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5 comments:

talesfromagarden said...

You are too funny!Love the title of the song too.
What a great idea to delegate the lights to a company,wish we had those around our neck of the woods!I find its easier to get jobs done by delegating too!

Joy@aVintageGreen said...

Very smart to delegate, especially since that was a big job (and not really much fun either). Anything else you could delegate? You've got a LOT on your plate right now. Hope it is sunny where you are.
-Joy

talesfromagarden said...

Thanks for your kind comment on my blog!Christmas starts in the shops here almost as soon as Halloween is over!No rest in between,children making their First Holy Communion aged8 next May can already browse their dresses in shop windows at the moment!The boys outfits do not seem to require such early exposure!

MommaFaziBear said...

Ok, I'm right across the freeway and I bet they would come do my lights. How much was it? DO you mind giving a ballpark estimate? Or the name and number of the company?

About lists ... I'm never more comforted then when I sit down and take the time to create a complete list and then hang it up and start working it. There is nothing to worry about if the list was well made, then nothing will slip through the cracks and be forgotten.

If I feel my list is hurried and not well thought out, it's worthless to me, so the hour I spend coming up with the list allows me days of calm and methodical work.

Chy said...

I've finally figured out how freeing it is to make my task list each week (a lovely spreadsheet) & then delegate as much as I can. I'm still bogged down but would be sunk if I tried to do all that I used to do before I figured out I could actually give tasks away. And they get done!! Less guilt.

Great post today.

Chy