Let's Make a List

I love both the US and British versions of The Office. I've seen episodes from both series multiple times, and I just recently started watching the US version of The Office from Season 1, Episode 1 with my boyfriend because he had never seen a full episode of either series. [Insert shocked face, gasp, and an explicative here.]

Last night we reached Season 5, Episode 20, called Dream Team. This is the episode in which ***Spoiler Alert*** Michael Scott and Pam Beesly have started the Michael Scott Paper Company after quitting Dunder Mifflin. It's their first day of MSPC. At different points in the episode, Michael and Pam experience melt downs as they realize that they have quite their jobs to start a new paper company in an economy where paper companies are being replaced by big franchises like Staples and Office Supply. The answer to calming both down? Making a list of things that need to be done. Seeing the tasks at hand written down and then checking those items completed off bring both Michael and Pam back to focus and calmness.

Like Michael and Pam, I'm a list maker. I started making lists as soon as I could write full words. To Do lists, Grocery lists, What I Need to Pack lists, Places I Want to Visit lists, Goals lists, 2019 Goals lists, Blog Topic lists, Books I Want to Read lists...the list of lists goes on and on. I collect all the items on a sheet of paper, numbering each item (although sometimes I'll use a dash instead). I love the orderliness that that list brings to my life. I prefer lined paper and either a black or blue gel pen to write my lists. When I accomplish an item, the best feeling in the world is taking a black Sharpie and drawing a line through that item. If I'm at work, I'll use my dry erase board and alternate items in different colors; sometimes I'll color code them. But it's always a thick black line that gets drawn through a completed task. I used to keep them scattered about, but my ex-husband would pick them up and read them back to me, mocking the things I placed on my To Do list. He quickly made me become a closeted list maker, and today my lists are contained to one notebook. When I'm done with a list, I tear it out of the notebook and put it through the paper shredder for the ultimate feeling of accomplishment.

The lists help me organize my thoughts. It makes me feel less overwhelmed, regardless of how many items might be on that list. I don't understand the non-listmakers, the individuals who fly by the seat of their pants, no items jotted down, no black Sharpie line to indicate a sense of accomplishment. And I might create that list and procrastinate on starting it but, dammit, at least I have a list. I want to take my love of lists and force them onto others. My boyfriend has been talking about making a list of things he needs to think through, and I'm itching on his behalf to make that list. Just jot it down, I think. Use a yellow legal notepad and a quill ink pen. No numbers for you, just a flow of your thoughts down the length of the paper. Make your list. Make it. Make it now. But I can't impose my desire for him to have his list until he has it. I can't judge him for not making his list. Because sometimes I get sidetracked from a list long enough that I can't remember what the list was intended for, or the items no longer are valid, or I just don't have enough reasons to keep going with the list, and the list just ends up shredded anyway.

Now I need to go make a list...