With the start of next semester starting much faster than I am prepared for, I can’t help but start to rack my brain for everything that needs to get done before then. I know I need to get textbooks, get new notebooks, hand in forms to the registrar and grocery shop. All of these things need to happen in the first two days, starting day three my lists get longer.
There is something I love about making lists. I actively started making lists on a regular basis this past year and it has been a game changer. It might be the visualization of seeing everything I have to do with a check box next to it, or the satisfying feeling of checking something off once it’s done. Sometimes, I will write something down even if I have already finished it just to check it off.
This is the way I have functioned my entire life: I ask what do I need to do, what can I get ahead on, what classes do I need to finish in the next year? Next two years? I have heard on more than one occasion that I am “insane”. My friends who function the same way understand me though; they understand the insanity I go through making list after list. Making my lists has to consume at least ten minutes of my time once a day. In college world, ten minutes is enough time to throw laundry into the machines, grab coffee or start a reading. In other words, it is valuable time. I have tried to find ways to shorten the time it takes, but have not succeeded. I’ve accepted it though because lists keep me functioning. My lists allow me to be in as many leadership roles in clubs as I am and get my schoolwork done ahead of time.
I am already mentally starting lists in my head of things that need to get done the day I get back to school, the next week, and everything in between. I know these lists need to happen so I can relax on vacation. I think in a way, making these lists helps me relax. I know people don’t like to think about school over break but I have to; I have to list what needs to happen when. I guess my desire to have everything done and written down might mean I’m a bit of a control freak, but honestly, if this method helps me succeed, I’m okay with that.
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