Lists

 I’m basically not a notes person. I used to sit with my text book, and think, what notes should I take?

Thank god or the inventor of high lighters, at least I could highlight what I thought was important!

Anyway, lets not digress, I have never been very good with making lists, as I’m not a very organised person. I don’t make plans! Don’t get me wrong, I do plan, but I don’t ‘make’ plans.

If I plan to finish a story tonight, I might actually start another one, and then finish that, without touching the story I had planned to write. So what’s the point of making a plan! I hadn’t planned to write even this article, as I hadn’t remembered, and after submitting my piece on gratitude, just before switching off, I started writing this!

(Between us, why I hadn’t written anything about this theme of procrastination, earlier, because, the very first day, I did plan to do so, and write something on that theme everyday, and then, completely got side tracked).

A few years ago, I had planned to write a novel, or a collection of stories at least, and did a short course in creative writing, and during that time, as my trainer had told us, I started taking notes, making lists, got a diary to keep a journal, but all remained almost empty, just like the pages of my copy, though sometimes I scantily scribbled some stuff, but now, I can’t read that myself, I have really shabby handwriting!

So, did I finish the novel, no Sir, I didn’t! (And now, I’m trying to write that book for NoMoWrimo 2021, that is the plan, lets see)!

Well, why, didn’t I write my novel then?

I had certainly planned to do that.

Then what happened?

Because, I started doing a PhD, and after that ended up writing an academic book, instead. I enjoyed the experience of writing a book, but not the academia!

Typical. My plans are like that!

So why bother writing something down in a list, “to do this or to do that”, moreover, my handwriting, we have already talked about that!

But it doesn’t mean I don’t understand the importance of making lists. They are so important, shopping lists for example. Especially, if you don’t want to end up buying oxidised salsa salt three times in a row, and keep missing out on buying the one thing, baking powder, that you really needed, every time you hit the aisles at Coles, you do need lists!

However, one of my friends, who knows my estranged relationship with lists, notes and papers, once said to me, “You are so disorganised with your papers, but are so organised, you have it all there (she pointed at my head), may be not in your diary!”

Well, so that’s my take on lists.

And, I believe plans sometimes don’t work, but prompts do! At least in my case!

And now, where is my list for this month’s prompts for the few pubs, I write for?

Such a hopeless case!

I need a list to remind about other lists!

Notes:

Sorry Salil, I couldn’t write a more suitable article on this prompt, but it just so happened.

Oh wait, I do have a quote on lists, someone wise saying something I was trying to say!

“The only thing more important than your to-do list is your to-be list. The only thing more important than your to-be list is to be.”
― Alan Cohen (An author of self-help books).