There are those of us who feel that we can take on anything. We never say no (even when we should) because we seem to forget that there are only 24 hours in a day. We check the clock double or triple times the amount that normal people do so we know when to change tasks in order to keep up. When we get ready in the morning, we basically pack for a week-long camping trip because we won’t be back until after dinner.
For some of us, cars are a second locker, many of us type more than we speak, and the majority of us would give up coffee before we give up our cell phones and planners (well, maybe not coffee—we’d probably give up food before coffee). No matter what our individual styles of multitasking are, we all share one activity in common: The to-do list. The sacred to do list comes in many forms, and we all guard it with our lives. Without it we are nothing, and it will never go away because it seems to never end.
How do you know if you are a member of this group? See if any of these apply to you…
1. Your to-do list has graduated from Post-it notes to a full spiral notebook.
2. Or your list is just 1,000 Post-it notes.
3. Or you have multiple lists you can’t keep track of in your planner, on your phone, and on your computer.
4. You constantly find yourself emailing from the toilet.
5. Waterproof phone case? Make that emailing from the shower too.
6. You regularly push the line of where it is acceptable to bring your laptop. Brunch? The beach? Movie night with friends?
7. Your to-do list involves reading books about how to de-stress, but you don’t know if you’ll ever get to reading them.
8. You actually play a little game in your head where you see how many little things you can get done before you have to go somewhere.
9. You search for the mindless chores on your list to do so you can procrastinate on the hard stuff.
10. Bluetooth is your personal gift from heaven for allowing you to make calls from the car.
11. You’ve stopped caring about data or personal Hotspot charges because they’re just too necessary.
12. You’re always the one with the extra bag containing a change of clothes and shoes.
13. You’re constantly racing the 5 p.m. daily deadline of calling everywhere you need to before they close.
14. Your online shopping is more concerned with functional backpacks and notebooks than clothing and shoes.
15. Checking an item off your to-do list is more exhilarating and fulfilling than actually completing the task itself.
16. On breaks or vacation, you still have an impulse to make a list, so strange things like “buy smoothies” and “call doctor to make sure you aren’t overdue” end up on there.
