Daryl from Vancouver has inspired me with his List so I thought I would start a thread dedicated to it.  Here is from his post in Introduce yourself.

One weekend I sat down and created a ‘to do’ list of all the little tasks I was behind in that were cluttering my life, physically and mentally. I had over 50 items at first and added more as they came up. A lot were menial things but they were causing a lot of drag in my life. I managed to complete most of it (maybe 2/3) in a week or 2 where before I would have struggled to just get my laundry done or one of them in a weekend. (I had a lot of energy for it in the first 2 weeks and committed the entire weekends to The List) Bit by bit as I completed them I got rid of the negative ‘clutter energy’ they represented, learned a little discipline and simplified my life. I strongly believe in the principal that you need to clear the clutter, literally and figuratively, from your life in order to move forward.

One big example was to complete setting up my balcony for the summer. I had trouble deciding what and how to do it and making purchases of furniture etc. (Decision making has always been a bit of an issue for me.) It has been used as a dumping ground/storage for a few years and was a daily eyesore and reminder of the state of my life. I stuck to it and now it is cleaned, furnished, decorated and planted and I enjoy it every day. My neighbors have all commented on it and it is now a daily reminder or what I can accomplish if I make an effort; a testament to the process of making consistent little improvements over time. I had my list to keep referring to when I needed focus on what my objectives were. As I mentioned, I even wrote down the littlest task so when I was really low energy I could refer to The List and at least do one small improvement. I began to notice that instead of having a bunch of things I needed to do that just seemed to overwhelm me, I had a bunch of things done that I was either enjoying or were no longer nagging at me. Now I am working on applying those techniques to my career and most other areas of my life as there is a lot I need to change. I’ve got a lot to do but I’ve got my balcony there as a daily reminder of what will happen if I do the very basic thing. Stand up, take a step, repeat.

The whole thread is http://www.motivationtomove.com/forums/viewthread/2516/

This inspired me to start my own List to get all those nagging things done.  Things that I have been telling myself I need to get done but somehow never do.  They range from small - Nail on that piece of molding to Shop for new car insurance, to Sell the house (which I can’t do until I get a lot of the other items on the list done.)

I encourage others to make a List.  You don’t know how good I felt to have that pesky piece of molding nailed in. And as I get more done on The List I know it is going to make me feel great.

Thanks for the interest Eileen.

You have helped me renew my commitment to my List. Yesterday I renewed my membership to my auto club. It’s been nagging me for over a month and took all of a 3 minute phone call. What a waste of energy having that little thing lingering in the back of my mind for a month.

The List was a tool I used to help drag me out of a bit of a depression and to help get my butt off the couch. Kind of an inventory of all the little things that nagged at me and kept me overwhelmed and paralyzed. Just writing them all down and getting them out of my head was a huge step forward. Also, a big help was in finding my “daily energy rhythm”. I found that the mornings were easier and much more productive for me. I had started getting up earlier to go running and found that I could (and wanted to) get more done in 10-15 minutes in the morning than in the whole evening. Also I have an hour lunch break which I find is a bit more than necessary so I try to run an errand at lunch at least a few times a week.

Keep at it Eileen, and Thanks again for helping to Motivate me.

Things haven’t been going so well for me exercise wise lately but The List is giving me a sense of accomplishment.  I have knocked several more things off of it as well as added a few more things to it.  It feels great everytime I can highlight another item as done.

Hi Eileen.
I’m glad your List is working for you. I’ve kind of temporarily plateaued with mine. But it did help me get to a good headspace where I was feeling good about myself and accomplishing things. Now I have been focusing in exercise for the past 3-4 weeks and not the List so much. But I am good with that. I am making the most of the end of summer and good weather to get out and enjoy myself a bit. I used to use my morning time before work to do administrate stuff, Bills, e-mails, blogging etc, but I’ve been getting to the gym every morning now. Today is a rest day so I’ve got time to do some letters etc on here. I’m planning on easing up on the exercise starting in September and shifting some of that energy to job hunting and other ‘desk stuff’ so will be on here regularly then.

I got another 2 items crossed of The List today.

I also find that I am now taking care of things as I see them, I don’t want them to end up on the List so I get them done right away.

Great idea, Eileen. I need to work on my own to-do lists a bit more. The self-esteem checklist (ongoing) has been fun and a great boost of my morale. Sometimes I do the stuff, sometimes I end up crossing it off as unneeded or changed-my-mind, but it’s definitely expanded my horizons.

I have lots to do to tidy up my life’s loose ends. This is inspiring me. My plate is pretty full for the next two weeks, but when I get into my fall rhythm, I’ll do this.

-- Ann

That’s great Ann.  Will look to see you here come fall

I think I have made a connection between my List and my missing click.  During the 7 months that I was working on fitness and exercise I was neglecting my house and a lot of other tasks.(in other words, all the items on my List) By the time I got home from work, did my hour of exercise and ate dinner there wasn’t time to do all the things that have ended up on my List.

So for now, I am concentrating on the List.  I need to get all these nagging things done.  I am also going to add to the List one more item - Come up with a plan to balance my life (one of Scott’s topics this week) I need have exercise but also I need to keep up with other things in my life and not end up with another long List.

On a good note, the most nagging items on my list have to do with my small half bathroom.  I started redoing it over a year ago and never finished.  Now I am down to just 2 more items to finish it up.  I am going to feel great once those are done, which should be by the end of the weekend.

Eileen, that is so awesome that you are making that progress with your bathroom.  Reading about your progress and success is encouraging.  It is hard to balance everything though I will agree with you on that.  I have been more fitness focused recently and will strive for more balance in September, once I reach my Sept 1 fitness goal.  Keep it up. I think I will use your example and work on my bathroom first.