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Are You A List Maker? Are you one to write reminders? Are lists helpful in your daily routine? Do you make lists from the lists? Li§t milking seems to have become more and more prevalent. Apparently a genuine help just to “get things done." Whether it is the housewife with her shopâ€" ping list â€" even this has changed â€" it could easily be the husband doing the shop- ping, or the executive with his day's schedule neatly noted on a pad, it will make for a better “you”. _Do you feel a list helps to make you more efficient? Do you feel a sense of accomâ€" plishment seeing some of the items ticked off when they are finished? One has to be careful about list making. not to make it too long or too far into the future, unless for a specific purpose. If you make a daily list don't make it to cover the whole week’s work, or you will become discouraged at the little accomplished. Lists are for the express purpose of helping you arrange your life in an orderly fashion. And yet, we know there are times when few items are ticked off at the end of a day. This too. can be a good discipline to teach us not to become frustrated ifwe didn’t get as far as we had hoped. Everybody has high and low periods in a day. if you are a morning person, then get on with tackling the most important item on the list first thing in the morning when you have the most energy and concentration power. Leave the mundane and tedious items to the time when you are at your lower pace. Or do the job you dislike most when you are eager and have the most ambition. We are all quite aware that the list will be ignored for that part of the day when there are unavoidable interruptions; when the baby is cranky and needs more atten- tion than usual or the time your husband needs you to drive to town to pick up the part for the broken piece of machinery when they are going full tilt harvesting the c0rn or grain. It is during times such as these that you must learn to be flexible. The whole secret to listmaking is to be able to adjust and make the best of these situa- tions and still accomplish something. Even if you feel you have accomplished nothing during the day. think back on the day's activities. there's always something good about each day even if it is only to feel you‘re glad it is behind you. Dead lines are pressure times, but the calm and collected attitude will avoid ulcers and help make you a more productive person. it makes sense that your day will go much better when organized and you will be pleased with your accomplishments for the day, even if only two items out of the six you listed were ticked off. List making is very similar to an agenda at the Women's Institute meeting. You are well aware ofthe difference between a well run meeting, simply because the pres- ident and secretary had worked out an agenda, or the meeting where the officers almost worked on the agenda as the meeting progressed. You know how much more interesting and enjoyable a well run meeting can be, to say nothing of the accom- plishments achieved during the business period. Wl work does involve list making, even if it goes under a heading ofagenda, pro- grams or projects. Every item on the list needs careful thought before being presented by the president to the membership. Some items will be routine and need little discussion. Other items will need more thought, lots of discussion and even some brain storming. How do you go about it? The usual way is through good dis- cussion period. This should be handled by allowing as many to have "their say" and still not allow a single individual to dOminate. Brain storming also can be so effective, but beware, good brain storming is only effective if you accept every single idea, regardless of how preposterous the thoughts, with no negative interjections. Make a list of all ideas presented. The next step, go over all items on your list and together cull those not appro- priate. You will be surprised however to find that those items on the list that are not workable might spark another idea and sometimes can become a positive factor. A good president should be capable ofdrawing out some ideas “for the list" from even the most shy and retiring member. Try your list making from this point of view perhaps this will give another avenue of thought to your approach for improved meetings. Yes, list making is a good idea, so long as you don‘t start making lists ofthe lists. _v/MM’1/