"Well, I want to hear them while they're still fresh," he assured me.
And of course, by the time he sat down in my office just a few hours later, all of the ideas seemed stale, or wilted, or just plain ... well, half-baked. I read them anyway, and he made kind approving noises. Because that's the sort of person he is.
"I made a list last year," I said, "and I did everything on it."
"Really?" he said, laughing. "Wait, let me see that." He peered at it over the tops of his glasses, amused.
"That doesn't cover everything I did, though."
"I know it doesn't." He's still looking at it, my list with tea stains on it, perhaps a little impressed less with the list itself than with the fact that I'd even keep such a document, given that I have almost no paper on my desk. He's the save-er in our office; I'm the Queen of Purge. "We should send this in for your performance appraisal."
It occurred to me that even if the list didn't have very important or large things on it, I was impressed, too. I hadn't realized that I had such power.
I wonder, what would I be capable of doing if I simply put it on my to-do list for next year?
Learn to speak another language?
Go to yoga once a week?
Write a novel?
Does my goal-orientation only apply at work?
Do you have a little list?*
(with apologies to Gilbert and Sullivan, whose Lord High Executioner has a very different sort of list. I couldn't help it; the song planted itself in my head as soon as I started thinking about lists. I played Katisha in my 7th grade production of the Mikado, and I haven't yet successfully erased the libretto from my memory.)
~~
Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.
I had to laugh as I was humming this tune while reading your post.
ReplyDeleteI like this idea. Instead of resolutions, sitting down and writing out what needs to be accomplished. It's important because it helps motivate and a lot of the time I completely forget what was accomplished. Reminds me of flipping back through lab notebooks and realizing all that had been accomplished cen when it felt like nothing had.
Thanks for the idea!
I need to google to see if I know this tune.
ReplyDeleteSo what will you put on your personal list?
I'm betting you're like me. If it gets on the list, by g*d it gets done.
I have a bullet journal, which is like a list. If it goes in the bullet journal, it gets done. If it doesn't, it doesn't. But it's cool to look back on all the big and little goals reached. Good for you!
ReplyDelete