How to get ahead ... get a list!

Not my words, but those of my psychiatrist. Only joking. Though I suspect I may be needing the services of a qualified brain doctor as I negotiate the complexities of moving into a new home.

So much needs to be organised that I’m now obsessed with compiling lists. What started out as a quick ‘to do’ note to myself has grown into a colour-coded ream of imperatives constantly being updated, reviewed and rewritten.

With each completed task, a thin black line is drawn through the words. It has to be a thin line, because I am too eager to scratch off tasks. I need to see what it is I’ve scratched off, mainly because it’s not quite completed.

For example, ‘Sort phone line’ will be scratched off as done, after I’ve arranged for a phone line to be installed, but not before it’s installed. So I have to add ‘Sort out phone line installation’.

The more I do, the longer the list becomes. It’s taking over my life. I’ve even taken to adding things I’ve done to the list, just for the satisfaction of crossing them off!

Like I say, the services of a psychiatrist may be required.

As space on the list gets eaten up by the tasks, so list-based concerns start to appear on the list.

I’ve considered moving my list of things to do from paper and onto an electronic device.

To do that, I am on the verge of compiling a list of things to do to make my list more efficient. A kind of list list!

Apart from that, the move is going well. And that’s all down to two things. My impressive organisational skills and embarrassing lack of possessions. What I have collected probably says more about me than I’d care to admit.

I have a collection of vinyl records, but no record player; a pile of books I’ve already read and an electric guitar I can’t play. The books are probably an unconscious attempt to colour visitors’ opinion of me. They say you can tell a lot about a person by the books on their shelves. In my case, I have cookery books, zombie horrors, sci-fi, music, autobiographies and encyclopedias. If you think that makes me hard to call, you’re wrong. While you can usually tell what a person is like by the books on their shelves, in my case, the books are used as shelves. I have no furniture.

Note to self: Add psychiatrist to that to do’ list.