check it

I was talking to my mother the other day about keeping a "to do" list. She is really good at it. My earliest memories from childhood include her writing stuff down and muttering something like "I better put this on my list so I remember to do it..." and she always managed to get things done. My mom doesn't know the meaning of procrastination. If she even thinks of doing something, it is as good as done. Here, the apple has fallen far from the tree... I can't even see the orchard.
Don't get me wrong. I get a lot done. I am pretty much always busy. And I am not inefficient or anything. But when it comes to getting a specific task done, my body physically revolts, often conveniently forgetting what it was I wanted to do. At some point, I decided to stop fighting it and start keeping a list. In so many ways I am already becoming my mother, so why resist the "to do" list. So I keep lists. All over the place. I have lists on scraps of paper that reside in the bottom of my bag, wrinkled and forgotten. I have lists on my phone that get longer, not shorter. I got a composition notepad that I carry around with me everywhere I go. "oooh, let me write that down so I don't forget!" Yea, right.
Keeping a list is one thing. Using it is another, my friends. Funny thing, I was reading my friend Oliver's column today, and lo and behold, he is talking about the bloody checklist! Maybe it is no mere coincidence; the end of a year, the anticipation of starting a new one and wanting to start with a clean slate, perhaps...
Back to my conversation with my mom... I was asking her how it is that she manages to tackle the items on her list, confessing to her that although I do keep a list, I suck at actually using it. My mom told me about a friend of hers from college, a super smart, creative genius who would keep notes on a stack of paper - when something got to the bottom of the pile, he would throw it out. Then she laughed. "He ended up killing himself."
Note to self: keep checking the list.