On a recent trip to Beacon, New York, to visit my son, I purchased a small yellow book entitled To-Do.  Inside this book were approximately fifty white lined papers with small boxes along the left margin.  The book was designed for people like me who routinely create a daily To-Do list.  The lines meant for the writing of the items that need to be done, and the small boxes for the list maker’s favorite part, checking the item off once it has been completed.  Imagine, someone somewhere had this on their To-Do list, the item:  make a book of pages with nothing in it but lines and little boxes, cover it in some cute yellow paper, write To-Do on the cover, and sell it in a trendy little shop in Beacon for $13.99 where some compulsive list maker (that would be me), will purchase it and begin making yet another list of items to complete.  

The To-Do list, are you a To-Do list maker?  After much reflection, which usually occurs during the wee hours of the morning when I should be sleeping but lie awake thinking, I’ve decided on four variations of the To-Do list.

1. The Original

This list includes items that need to be done and will be completed by the end of the day.  It typically consists of about 10 items, including basic chores such as buy milk, fold laundry, mail a letter, and walk the dog.  Done, over, crossed off. New list tomorrow.

2. The Dreamer

This list consists of items one dreams of doing, and at the time the list is written, the writer genuinely believes they can and will be accomplished.  These items include things such as run a half marathon, read a book a week, exercise daily, plant a vegetable garden, and get a dog. Without carefully decomposing each of these items on the list and breaking it down into smaller steps (which will result in approximately twenty more lists), the writer of this dream list will actually never have the sheer delight of what all list makers love the most, crossing the items off their list.

3. The After The Fact To-Doer

My friend Anne got me thinking about this one.  When discussing my To-Do list idea, she admitted to being one of these types of list makers.  These sneaky list makers have the big shift of writing the list at the end of the day rather than the start. Anne told me that when she left her career to be a full-time mom, she felt that she was doing nothing all day.  Then, after all the kids were asleep and the house was tidied up, she started writing down all the things she had done and accomplished during the day.  It gave her a real sense of accomplishment as she looked back over all the jobs that had been completed, improving her mood and helping her to get a better night’s sleep.  Is it possible that list making can improve one’s mood and health? I think in this case it did.

4. The Middleman

As a Libra, I am continuously in the middle balancing those scales, never too much on one side unless I put a little more on the other.  I am The Middleman To-Do list maker.   We middlemen create a combination of The Original list, a scaled-down version of The Dreamer, and then throw in some of The After The Facter.  I usually lead off with The Dream list, items such as repaint bedroom furniture like the set we saw in Montauk, and take up watercolor painting, followed by empty the dishwasher, make the bed, and feed the dog.  Then, at the end of the day, when I’m sitting with pen in hand, ready to cross off all those items I have accomplished, I add in all the extra things that I did that never even made the list! Yup, a quick write and cross off.  Such exhilaration! 

Then came another thought…. (4:15 am). What about the materials used to make that list?  A pen and paper, a Google Doc, a text message, or even worse, let AI make it for you! What does that say about the list maker?  I am a pen-and-paper list maker, but perhaps that is due to my age. I wrote before I typed and way before I texted. Possibly now creating your To-Do list as a text may be a thing, as long as you follow up on it and don’t lose it in the texting abyss.  The advantage of a piece of paper is that it sits around, and eventually you see it, pick it up, and ask yourself, “What is this?” And Voila!  Your list is active again. We tend to want to get rid of random papers sitting around, so we either hang the list on the fridge, move it to another pile of papers, throw it away, or we, to quote Nike, Just Do It! 

There’s a lot out there on the qualities of list makers, and I must say they are pretty good!  Qualities such as mindfulness, persistence, organization, and strong memory retention, among others.  And humbly enough, I must admit that I do possess those traits.  Add that to my next list: share with others all my good qualities!

I titled this passage of thoughts with a quote from Benjamin Franklin. “Never leave that till tomorrow which you could do today.”  It is the anti-procrastination slogan, similar to Nike’s, “Just Do It!” I believe Franklin to be a To-Do list maker. One can only imagine his list as a child, 

Move to Philadelphia

Write under the pseudonym Silence Dogood to fool your brother

Began your own newspaper

Help write the Declaration of Independence

Invent many helpful items that will be used for many years

A list of my own making, but there is an accurate list that he did make.  Franklin called it The Thirteen Necessary Virtues.  Some items included on this list are: Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation; Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.  It seems this To-Do list adds a new category: the ‘I Can Use It Every Day for the Rest of My Life’ List.  Another example of this type of list is the Ten Commandments.  Here is a list of things to do not just today, but every day.  Items such as do not kill, do not steal, and be nice to your mom and dad.  I suppose that if I were writing my To-Do list, having to chisel it into a block of stone, I too would ensure that it was a list that could be used every day.  After all, I’m more of a pen writer than stone chiseler. 

The little yellow To-Do book, which I purchased in a trendy little shop meant for people like me, sits next to me filled with lists and ideas.  It turned into more than a To-Do list and contains everything from measurements of the bedroom furniture I planned on repainting, to directions to a friend’s house—basically, a $13.99 pad of paper. Yet, I still love those two little words, To Do.  When one has things to do, whether it’s the basics, the dreams, or a combination of both, one has a purpose.  So I now open my list book and have the pleasure of the best part of keeping one.  There it is written,  ‘Write an essay on To-Do lists.’  I pick up my pen and cross it off.    Ah, what pleasure …