Oh, how I love creating a list.

I start with the bits of ideas floating on small post-its or emails to myself; margin scribbles or sometimes actual scraps of paper; texts to myself or a lost thought that needs a safe home - and that home is the list.

The bits move into stacks - sometimes in a notebook ("Ode to Composition Notebooks" coming soon!); sometimes into a cluster on the family ping pong table, as I sort & organize the pieces; occasionally, into a Notes doc or Google doc, which despite being a safe electronic spot for lists, I still tend to print.

Today's lists include meeting requests sent & awaiting response; folks to set coaching meetings with; and calendaring March dates onsite with a school. The right sticky note (lined or unlined? Dull or bright color), the right pen (often a medium point blue Bic pen, but sometimes a bold Sharpie), and then some decisions about structure, too (don't you love a check box?).

But the heart of this list-making is the sense that I'm getting things done. Being organized has definitely gotten harder for me. My "in the head" lists must now find their way to paper, as my brain can't easily move from A to B to C without that written road map. If I write it down, especially in the right place (and with the right pen!), I'm cuing myself to take action and set priorities. When I move down the page, curating the scraps into a system that makes sense, I'm creating brain space for the real work of getting to work, not remembering what I need to do.

Tomorrow, I'll add some more checkmarks and start scheduling new coaching cycles for March. And tonight, I'll sleep easier, knowing I know what to do tomorrow :)