9 Lists To Keep Updated, and Keep Handy

I have quite a handful of mini notebooks as well that become a dump site of everything I come across with or think up. That goes with, like yours, gift ideas, business ideas, things I want lists, etc. But I do like your BHAGs and Got A Minute? so I’ll incorporate them to mine. Thanks for this!

I like a lot of these list ideas, especially “what I want”, “gift ideas”, “watch/read/listen” and “got a minute?”. You know I don’t rock the Moleskine, but my iPod touch can certainly house a few of these. :)

I keep these items in the order they come to me in my various notebooks. The leak in the system – making time to put these things in Daylite on my Mac, so that I can get to them at some point. Got notebooks I still have to “empty” of the ideas within… sigh.

Great post. Now I will know how to use my moleskine, which I won in school competition.
My moleskine says “Thank you”, because she wants to be usefull. :)

I always keep a list of books that I want to read. I add new choices to the list, and cross off the ones that I’ve read. And the “Don’t Forget” list is always a lifesaver.

I will use some of your lists in my BBerry memo pad. Thank you.

Thanks so much for all the love for the post! I’m all about my lists, and I’m glad I’m not the only one. Any lists I should have? I’m always down for a new one.

@Claude – I go back and forth between a few journal applications, but have been stuck on Penzu (www.penzu.com) for a while. It’s great, I can’t recommend it enough.

Good metalist. I’m not part of the GTD cabal, but many of these lists are produced from the GTD workflow (Got A Minute and BHAGs are two different lists of tasks and projects, Don’t Forget is essentially the tickler file). I especially like the Things I Want, Gift Ideas, Grocery List, and Watch/Listen/Read lists, more from a frugality standpoint than a organization standpoint.

I’m doing 101 things in 1001 days. I quickly realised that the one main list of goals has lots of sub-lists and trackers for various goals. I now have bundles of lists and an Excel file that could eat New York. Funnily enough though, because I have to juggle so many things fairly regularly I’ve learnt the art of integrating my lists into my day. Before I started this project I had lists… but I didn’t keep them up to date which was not really very useful. I’d distinguish your BHAG and Bucket lists as ‘things you plan to do long term’ and ‘things that would be neat if they happened while you were making all these plans and lists’… :)

I have been hearing about these Moleskines forever now – everyone seems to be liking them a great deal. Being born in a digital age where writing utensils are for old ladies, calligraphers and writing in public bathroom walls, I don’t have the most legible handwriting out there. Also, I don’t really understand how one would deal with a Moleskine becoming full – unlike a list I can have in a smartphone for example. Do I have to copy the list items not completed into a new notebook when the list gets full? What if my third list in the notebook gets full, and the others aren’t even half finished? These problems don’t occur with digital media… I wouldn’t know how to solve them. However, I do see the inherent style present in a pocket notebook – it is classy as hell. I guess my questions are:

1) How do you solve the aforementioned problems?

2) Is it really worth it?

2.1) How cool is it really?

Thanks for your time :D

You’ve sold me David. I try to stay away from paper, after spending so much on my iphone, but this post alone has convinced me to get my hands on a moleskin. Good Job, cause I don’t think I’m easy to sell.

Now if you only linked your amazon associate acct to a moleskin on amazon, you would have just made some money. =)

Hi,

for those who like having lists online gubb is a great tool. I use it to cover some of the lists described and even more as you can read in the following article.

http://www.anextrahoureveryday.com/2008/11/09/use-checklists-for-routine-work/

good list ideas. i have 1 to add in my list is the offline to do list is the task i need to do before i sit in my computer i spend to much time in my mac, i take this idea from other post here i think

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, I have a few of those lists. I write a lot of notes. Good suggestions.

Great post. I have a set of new Field Notes books and some Doane Paper books that are perfect for carrying these lists around in. Thanks David for a great article!

Some great Ideas!

I too loved the Moleskin but after constant use the spine and cover would wear out (I went through about 4 of them). I have since switched to a little 5-ring binder provided by Success Diaries:

http://www.succes.com/

http://www.succescanada.com/

They also allow flexibility with inserting new pages and you can got page dividers to assist in organizing your lists and notes.

I use Gmail Tasks to keep my lists – not only tasks but anything in list form. My favorites are “things to buy”, similar to the “I want” list but everything on there gets a date and I can’t buy it until the date is up. It’s a way of making sure I don’t spend on impulse. Taking cues from Getting Things Done, I also have a Calls to Make, Things to do at a Computer, Things to do at home, and Project lists.

I also keep a “stickies” list with numbers like my frequent flier #s (no more searching Gmail!), phone numbers I often use at work (no cellphones), and ideas to do while traveling so I don’t forget my knitting or paint-by-number as I’m headed out the door.

I’ve just started a list that I call “Ask the Doctor.” Every year when I go for my checkup, there are things I need to discuss with my doctor that I forget! This list ensues that I’ll ask the necessary questions.

The font choice for this article makes is quite unpleasant to read.

Great advice. I have kept lists all my life, and have kept separate lists on different topics. I have even created a list of lists, but for some reason I never felt like my lists were all that affective in keeping me organized, up-to-date, and on time. Perhaps your ideas may help me “reorder” my life. Thanks for sharing!

For the moleskin-less of us, and those who are digitally addicted… http://www.rememberthemilk.com Supports this idea perfectly.

I find the tricky parts about lists are:

1. Keeping them ultrasimple
2. Get the list contexts right
3. Maintain = integrate the lists into your daily workflow

A moleskin would never work for me. Have all my digital notes in Evernote + Google tasks + a project management system.

Workwise I have abbreviated every project context into a 3 letter signature (PR1 = Project 1) and I reuse these contexts in all work environments.

I know I need to work with my structures – albeit David Allen GTD system has its strong points. I have decided to pick out the elements I believe in and tack it from there whilst developing a trustworthy system of my own.

Great post! I’ve adopted most of these ideas to a shopping list app I use on my iPhone. Never thought about using it for non-shopping lists!!