Have you ever wondered why we are so fascinated by lists of things? We seem to love lists of countdowns to ‘number one’, lists of the top ten or the top one hundred. Why is it that people sit glued to the television to see the countdown to the number one song of all time, or the funniest home video? Why are we so absorbed by The Guinness Book of Records, or Time magazine’s: The World’s Top 100 Most Influential People, or the list of the most glamorous or the richest people in the world, or for that matter, the fastest lap by some celebrity on the Top Gear race track in some remote and obscure area of London?
Why do we keep lists (sometimes in our heads) of the best or favourite movies, songs, or sporting teams? Why do we care what someone else thinks about who’s the best, the fastest, the toughest, the funniest? What does it matter? Well it seems it matters to us a great deal. Lists like these appeal to our natural curiosity and our competitive nature. Maybe too, it’s the debate that goes on around who or what was the number one or who or what was left off the list that we enjoy the most? As any good family debater knows – it can often be a ‘no win’ argument. As one husband quipped to his wife, “If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.”
Lists, by definition, give us some sort of order in our lives – from the mundane, like our weekly grocery shopping lists, or the daily ‘to do lists’, to the sublime, like in the movie, The Bucket List, where actors Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson wrote a list of their top ten things to do before they died. As we get older or when become ill, life and how we spend our time takes on a whole new meaning. It’s as if everything comes into sharp focus and we become centred on what’s most important in our life. A bucket list can become a life transforming list.
Noted time management experts and life skills coaches, like Jack Collis and Michael Leboeuf, extol the virtues of lists and setting goals. In their best-selling book, Work Smarter, Not Harder, the authors argue that without lists, without a plan, without goals, we can often live an aimless and purposeless life. The clear message is to make every day count. Merrill Douglass put it this way:
Many people assume that they can probably find many ways to save time. This is an incorrect assumption for it is only when you focus on spending time that you begin to use your time effectively.
There are many benefits to making lists and students in particular can benefit by making lists of their own.
• Lists allow us to take sometimes complex information and simplify it. The alphabet is nothing more than a list of letters and a dictionary a list of words.
• Lists aid our memory retention and are a very useful way to recall disparate information.
• Lists help us organise our lives and keep important goals at the forefront. Doing a ‘to do’ list each day allows us to prioritise our goals – short term and long term - and keeps us focused, not just on the here and now, but also on the future.
• Lists can give us a sense of achievement as we move from one day to the next – sometimes because we wonder what if anything, we accomplished during the day.
• Lists can be powerful motivators, once we have prioritised our goals for the day, or the week or the year for that matter, we can move forward with a sense of purpose and satisfaction.
A word of caution about making lists though. We can sometimes be so caught up with the day to day lists that we lose sight of the big picture in life. It’s important to keep life in perspective; it’s not the end of the world if we don’t complete all of our ‘to do’ lists and our success and happiness is not necessarily measured by how many things we have crossed off our lists. A few wise words to ponder:
Remember where you have been and know where you are going. Life is not a race, but a journey to be savoured each step of the way. (Nikita Koloff)
Students benefit by being organised and parents can help their children to become better organisers by encouraging them to make simple lists. For example, someone should have spent some time with the children listing what needs to happen before and on Mother’s Day. Why? Because mums deserve it!
• Buy present for mums – Mother’s Day Stall at School on Friday - check
• Organise breakfast in bed - check
• Talk to children about being on their best behaviour (at least until breakfast is over and presents given) - check
• Lavish love and affection on mums all day Sunday - check
See how useful lists can be? I would like to take this opportunity to wish all mothers a very Happy Mother’s Day on Sunday and hopefully the above list will materialise as if by magic on the day.
Why do we keep lists (sometimes in our heads) of the best or favourite movies, songs, or sporting teams? Why do we care what someone else thinks about who’s the best, the fastest, the toughest, the funniest? What does it matter? Well it seems it matters to us a great deal. Lists like these appeal to our natural curiosity and our competitive nature. Maybe too, it’s the debate that goes on around who or what was the number one or who or what was left off the list that we enjoy the most? As any good family debater knows – it can often be a ‘no win’ argument. As one husband quipped to his wife, “If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.”
Lists, by definition, give us some sort of order in our lives – from the mundane, like our weekly grocery shopping lists, or the daily ‘to do lists’, to the sublime, like in the movie, The Bucket List, where actors Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson wrote a list of their top ten things to do before they died. As we get older or when become ill, life and how we spend our time takes on a whole new meaning. It’s as if everything comes into sharp focus and we become centred on what’s most important in our life. A bucket list can become a life transforming list.
Noted time management experts and life skills coaches, like Jack Collis and Michael Leboeuf, extol the virtues of lists and setting goals. In their best-selling book, Work Smarter, Not Harder, the authors argue that without lists, without a plan, without goals, we can often live an aimless and purposeless life. The clear message is to make every day count. Merrill Douglass put it this way:
Many people assume that they can probably find many ways to save time. This is an incorrect assumption for it is only when you focus on spending time that you begin to use your time effectively.
There are many benefits to making lists and students in particular can benefit by making lists of their own.
• Lists allow us to take sometimes complex information and simplify it. The alphabet is nothing more than a list of letters and a dictionary a list of words.
• Lists aid our memory retention and are a very useful way to recall disparate information.
• Lists help us organise our lives and keep important goals at the forefront. Doing a ‘to do’ list each day allows us to prioritise our goals – short term and long term - and keeps us focused, not just on the here and now, but also on the future.
• Lists can give us a sense of achievement as we move from one day to the next – sometimes because we wonder what if anything, we accomplished during the day.
• Lists can be powerful motivators, once we have prioritised our goals for the day, or the week or the year for that matter, we can move forward with a sense of purpose and satisfaction.
A word of caution about making lists though. We can sometimes be so caught up with the day to day lists that we lose sight of the big picture in life. It’s important to keep life in perspective; it’s not the end of the world if we don’t complete all of our ‘to do’ lists and our success and happiness is not necessarily measured by how many things we have crossed off our lists. A few wise words to ponder:
Remember where you have been and know where you are going. Life is not a race, but a journey to be savoured each step of the way. (Nikita Koloff)
Students benefit by being organised and parents can help their children to become better organisers by encouraging them to make simple lists. For example, someone should have spent some time with the children listing what needs to happen before and on Mother’s Day. Why? Because mums deserve it!
• Buy present for mums – Mother’s Day Stall at School on Friday - check
• Organise breakfast in bed - check
• Talk to children about being on their best behaviour (at least until breakfast is over and presents given) - check
• Lavish love and affection on mums all day Sunday - check
See how useful lists can be? I would like to take this opportunity to wish all mothers a very Happy Mother’s Day on Sunday and hopefully the above list will materialise as if by magic on the day.
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