like i need another excuse to make lists!

I am a compulsive list maker. I always have a to-do list. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about things I could or should be doing. I have a perpetual draft email to myself, with all those reminders about household tasks to do, things to buy, topics to research, hellos and thank yous to send, ideas for dinner, articles to read, stores or landmarks to check out, concerts to find tickets for, nice things to show my husband I love him, ideas for the genius etsy shop I dream of opening, friends to reconnect with, phone calls to make, accounts to sign up for or end, books to buy, forums to visit, home-made skincare/haircare recipes to make, dog breeds to research, jobs to apply for, new lists to make....

I am always forgetting everything, too. Which means I'm not actually DOING much of anything.

I've found a new weapon. It's a list. An electronic list. It goes with me wherever I can go be online. It has a support system built in. It's inspiring. It has endless possibilities.

It also has a reasonable limit. Ridiculous ideas and expectations can only go so far.

I've discovered 43things.com - a list-making website community of sorts. Each person gets his or her own list, and can add anything to it. To-dos range from giving the dog a bath, to simplifying life, to learning a new language or hobby, to . For people like me who get really jazzed about lists, listmaking, and real actual evidence that progress is being made, this website is fantastic. It's portable - to the extent that the internet is portable - so you don't have to worry about losing it. It's in one place - so you don't have to worry about keeping track of the random insights and urgencies plastered all over every sticky note, index card, half-sheet, receipt, or back-of-hand that presented itself in your time of need. And it's got cool self-remindery gadgets that send you reminders to your email inbox as often as you'd like - from every day to once a year. It's a great place to hammer down your immediate goals/needs, remind yourself of your dreams, and throw in your 'maybe somedays' too.

Right now my list ranges from 'wash the dog' and 'get my car registered' to 'move to Ireland' and 'write a book.' I won't go into great detail about the 'get organized' post, and what all the little sub-comments reveal about my notions of getting organized. (It's got some motivational elements and also a sub-list, which indicates that this is going to be a perpetual item.)

Living on a really tight budget has forced me to decide what I truly, deeply value. The same principle applies here. The limited number of items on the list requires that I only include the things that are really valuable to me in the long term, or are really important for me to focus on now (thanks to the daily reminders!). I can make my list, and then cut it short, honorably.

What a great idea!