Is it normal to write lists every day?

@LindorDoubleChoc I have a list that I check off against while writing my shopping list 🙂

I have so many lists! I have a little A6 size notebook in my bag, with day to day lists - including the very long list for my one day off a week 😔 Then on my phone I have more lists, plus lots of Google calendar reminders. Love a list!

Respect!

Yes. When I'm going to the shops I have a quick visual scan round the kitchen and I usually do OK.

OK - other shopping methods are available.

What do you do if you use the last of the olive oil when you're cooking?
Do you keep your shopping list in your head?

I write lists all the time! Daily, weekly, monthly, food, holiday packing, work- everything gets a list lol

I write lists all the time, and have a daily notebook for when i go out, and a long term 'to do' notebook.. My brain's like a sieve and writing things down de-frazzles my brain!

In a military context, the use of lists, plans, and orders is not only normal but also essential. Writing and using lists is a common and effective way to ensure that tasks are organized, priorities are clear, and everyone involved in the operation understands their roles and responsibilities.

I can’t seem to structure my mind to write lists or keep planners. I’d love to but I think I’m afraid of not doing it right so I don’t do it at all. It’s a weird form of perfectionism. All my lists are in my head.

I hardly ever use Amazon. I ordered something today (make up that you can't get in Boots or Superdrug) and it was the first time I'd used it in 9 months.

I'm not great with lists. If I put everything I need to do on a list it would total about a million things which I find very overwhelming.

To the non list writers, here's a question.

While I was cooking dinner I remembered that I want to replace my iPad cover.
I think it's common for things to pop in your head while you're doing tasks that don't need much thought (e.g. having a shower, washing up, planting bulbs).

I wrote it down on my list.
If I didn't write it down I would likely forget until the next time I use the iPad (which I mainly only use in bed i.e. I'm not going to go shopping there and then).

Do you just have amazing memories that mean when you're sitting down after dinner and kids in bed, you go to Amazon and order all the things you've thought about since you were last at Amazon?

Lists are a very normal way of coping with life.

DM was always going on about her lists.

I generally don't like lists. They have the fundamental flaw that assumes that you actually thought of everything that you needed at the time in order to be useful. They're too linear. They're not satisfying when your attention span fucks off and leaves things hanging or procrastination kicks in. You have to sort your thoughts out to be able to list, which might mean brain-dumping, then mind-mapping to even get to the stage of writing a coherent list
I have recently found a method that I quite like which is just writing 3 items. Do #1, and add #4, do#2, and add #5 etc. It stops the list turning into great streams of over-ambitious, demoralising, unachievable conciousness.

For time based things like appointments, I tend to use my phone calendar with reminders set to preparation time. Sometimes an alarm for a regular scheduled event such as weekly Scouts pick-up.
Food shopping, I do visually in the supermarket and talk my way through easy nights and cooking nights. I hated online shopping, far too abstract and random.

For other things, I'll use post-its or bullet journal inspired notebooks with varied layouts.

Ultimately it doesn't really matter how you plan to get shit done as long as it works for you. Despite not being a list fan, the only real problem is that if life is too rigourously planned without enough space for a realistic level of spontenaity, but that's not about the method.

I can’t work without lists. How else do you remember everything that needs to be done? My dh says I never met a notebook I didn’t like as I’m always buying new ones to accommodate future lists and I carry one everywhere. My nightmare is not having anywhere to write stuff down. I don’t think it’s abnormal, it’s just how I work. Dh doesn’t use lists and forgets everything.

Im also a lister, if it’s not in the list it doesn’t get done/bought!

I have lists for things to add onto food shop list, meal ideas, cleaning jobs I need to do, appointments etc.
My most useful list is one for each family member (DP and DC) and when any of them indicate they would like to buy or do something, I add it to the list and it comes in useful for birthdays/Christmas/special occasions.

I have a terrible memory and dread to think how I’d cooe
without my lists!

Yes, I always have. Putting a job on a list is an excellent substitute for actually doing it.

You may need to give it up once you're in your 70s - I've seen people citing lists as evidence of dementia and allowing the elderly person to remain in a state of denial. (Ditto not getting around to getting dressed or brushing your hair till late morning - lots of perfectly normal behaviours are viewed quite differently when you're old.)

Normal for me, but I'm forgetful and get sidetracked easily, so I need lists to keep me on track.

Completely normal. I thought everyone did it?

I have a morning routine that never varies - get up, make tea, take meds, eat breakfast, shower/hair/teeth, wash up breakfast things. And, similarly, a before bed routine. It's the between stuff that goes on my list. Having my routines & a list has really helped my mental health, although if I can't follow my routines (I have routines for different days too) or my list I can end up getting very anxious. I wonder sometimes if I am ND.

I like normal lists for things that need to be done in the day or week, but I find things like “wash hair” “eat breakfast” to be a bit like busy work. Do you really need a list to tell you that you will need a shower?

I need lists in my life. Combination of phone and pen & paper here

I have reminders on my mobile every day of the week -

Change bed, do shopping, see friends, babysit, go swimming, those kind of things. That's because my memory is pretty bad.

I am a list-maker. Lists are fine as long as they are not a procrastination tool - I once worked with someone who spent all day making lists about what he had to do, including at one point a list of lists, but never got anything done on any of them. At all. I got so frustrated I just started taking the lists off his desk and doing the stuff on them or nothing would ever have actually have been achieved. He had some sort of decision-fatigue of actually getting the anything started and was constantly stuck in the planning phase.

i love a list

When I was on mat leave I used to make lists, even including small things (eat breakfast, have shower, sterilise bottles etc). Saves holding things in your brain and you get a sense of accomplishment as you tick through them !

So I don't find it weird at all.

Twitch 🤪