When I worked in the costume shop at SDSU, we had something called the master list...it was a list of every single little bleeping thing that needed to be done in order to finish getting the show up from a costuming point of view. It included everything from making garments to sewing on buttons to trimming threads to purchasing pantyhose and other necessities to doing laundry...ironing...transporting...cleaning...etc...ad nauseum. The list literally had everything little thing, no matter how tiny, that needed to be done.
Each one of the departments had their own list. Ours was usually in a notebook or on a legal pad in the middle of the main table...or on several sheets of paper taped to the wall. When we got closer to production time, we would all go into work and just get as much done from the list as we possibly could. Some of it was ongoing...some of it took literally seconds to accomplish...some of the list items would take days to complete...and to top it all off, the list never stopped growing. Every day, as things would get crossed off, inevitably, a bunch of new stuff would get added. The list itself would sometimes be completely re-written several times before it was all over with.
Eventually, it would start to get smaller...little by little it would begin to shrink. It was a sign that we were almost there...almost done...that soon the madness would be over and we'd all be able to relax a little...and perhaps sleep a little too.
The great thing about the list is that stuff got done. It was right there in front of us. It was all priority and we all knew it. It streamlined management around the costume shop and helped us to work more cohesively with (relatively) little bitching and only a few things thrown at each other from across the room.
I'm a big fan of lists.
I'm not big on New Year's resolutions. I think they're actually kinda dumb. It's a socially accepted convention whereupon one picks an item or two (or three or so) from a list of highly generalized, predetermined things that one is supposed to do to make one better. (Lose 10lbs, stop smoking, exercise more, etc.).
So this year, I made myself a list.
Rather, I should say, I'm making myself a list.
Well, both.
I've identified about 4 different "major" things I would like to accomplish this year...they're specific.
And now I've started making myself a big fat old master list of things I need/want to get done.
And it truly is a big fat list. Within about 20 minutes, I've been able to fill a notebook page front and back. Some of the list is on going...stuff that I will never truly get "finished" (eg, "practice yoga", "blog", "meditate", etc.), some of it is stuff that I've been meaning to do for awhile and have been avoiding it...or just haven't gotten around to it...probably the first of the two. Some of it is stuff that I can get done with a flick of my wrist...or magic wand...if I can ever find the stupid thing. (Yes, "clean my room" is on the list.) The more important/time sensitive items are marked with an asterisk...meaning either "do these items first" or "get this done now!". (Just like with the master list in the costume shop, there are several things on there that I'd rather do first...but aren't necessarily the most important items on the list.)
Either way, the point is to give organization to the chaos and therefore provide some direction. I've found myself sitting at my computer in the evenings, knowing I have about a billion things to do. Many times I just sit there and stare at facebook or look stuff up on the internet. I hate that. It's wasting time. But it's because I literally don't know what to do next.
Haha! Guess what...now there's a list!
2009 is not going to go down in my history book as my favorite year. Probably, it will go down as my most challenging year. It will also go down as a year whose events changed me...perhaps changed me the most.
I'm a different person from it all...like it or not.
Either way, I'm the only person who can do something about it. I'm the only person who can change my life and change me for the better.
So, I've decided that 2010 is going to be my best year yet. 2009 is over...all of that crap is over. Now we're in a new year with new possibilities and opportunities and it's going to be great. It already is great and it just keeps getting better and better!
...And now I've got a list to prove it...so take that! :)
