A List

When I first wake there is a bit of clarity to my thought. Such lucidity will become lost very fast in a normal day. Don’t we all wish that we could bottle that first hour or so of clear-headedness and energy up and sip from it throughout the day?
Rumbling from bed to shower I have ten or twelve things right off the top of my head that I just know I have to do, or address or respond to. If I am lucky there is a Post-it pad nearby and I jot the first three or four down. Pens lay everywhere in my house (and my office). With luck I capture maybe another two or three must dos after I dry off.

From listing these items to acting on them is another thing. My routine is to take the Post-it and fold it over so that the sticky stuff does not cause a problem. When I say a problem I mean I don’t want the not inadvertently adhering to something and then becoming lost to me for the day. Folded the note takes up residence in the top pocket of my oxford button down shirt.

On the bus on the ride in each day I usually journal so I don’t look at the list then. Staring out at the blackness of night now fading I will pull out a pen and try to not just diary but clarify my thoughts on a particular topic. A typical entry would be:

12-07-10

This is turning into a very depressing winter. It seems all the news regarding the wars and the economy is bad. Each day I get up and listen to the radio news. It seems my values, values of respect for others and cooperative behaviors are assailed as being un-American or as being nothing more that liberal pipe dreams.

And then there are the little things in my life. By 7:18 I have to be in the car for the 3-4 minute trip to the bus stop. The weather is cold and I don’t want to make the 12 minute walk. Can I get anyone moving to allow this to happen? No. Well, at least not in any reliable manner. If I miss the bus I try to catch the next one at a different stop. Today is too cold to be standing outside.

Arriving at my office my lunch goes into the refrigerator. I hit the men’s room and take a leak. Washed up I walk to my office and set my brief case down. I hit the computer and turn on some ancient church music most often Anonymous Four’s Mass for a New Millennium (that Millennium being the year 1000). I lug out my own laptop computer and set it to steal network connectivity from the Chinese restaurant across the square. When I get my breaks I like to check e-mail and blog posts. I don’t want to do this on the state’s equipment. Then I empty my coat pockets into a bowl on my desk, keys, pens, dollar bills, yesterday’s receipts and notes all come to rest. Finally I draw the note out of my shirt pocket and put the little yellow scrap on my desk. Finally wasn’t quite right I do go and hang up my coat.

When I get back to my computer I check for e-mails with the “!” mark meaning in Windows-speak urgent. If there are no crises I look at my note and mentally prioritize. If it is a good day I will get to three of these usually important things. On a not so good day maybe my focus will settle on one or maybe none. It doesn’t take long to get derailed. By the second cup of coffee the plan of holding a hearing, then make a call on the yellow list comes off the track. All it takes is someone with a tough case or a coworker with a crisis.

But that is why we keep lists right? If I don’t get it done today it will be unfolded and posted with a push pin on my cubicle wall. It will be there tomorrow.