Tag Archive for: making lists

Your Favorite Characters Are Probably List Makers

Bert (right) and Ernie (left) with his rubber ...

Bert (right) and Ernie (left) with his rubber duckie . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I spend my days trying to come up with interesting content for this blog and find list makers in unsuspecting places.

While watching TV one day it occurred to me that some of our favorite characters must be list-makers too!  I’ve talked about celebs like Madonna and John Lennon making lists but what about some of the people we invite into our homes every day? 

 

I wonder what’s on the to-do lists of my top 5 “probable” list makers:

1. Ned Flanders (The Simpsons)ned

  • Ask Homer if he is done with my lawn mower
  • Come up with a more efficient way to iron
  • Sign up for church bake-sale

2. Claire Dunphy (Modern Family)claire

  • Call a professional to fix “the step”
  • Figure out the perfect anniversary present for Phil
  • Bail Hailey out of jail

3. Bert (Sesame Street)bert

  • Count the bottle caps in my collection
  • Feed Bernice (his pet pigeon)
  • Meet Ernie at Hoopers Store

4. Monica Geller (Friends)monica

  • Clean the vacuum with the dust buster
  • Learn the rules of football so you can beat Ross in the “Geller Cup”
  • Go out to the stores and get mayonnaise (NOT light mayo)

5. Sheldon Cooper (The Big Bang Theory)sheldon

  • Buy more hand sanitizer
  • Engineer perfect Spock costume for Halloween 2014
  • Prove to Penny and Leonard that I have perfect pitch

What characters do you think are natural-born list makers?

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Make Your Team More Productive With Asana

teamworkBeing productive is not always a lone effort. In my day job and with my interns for this blog, I frequently have to work with a team. Being productive with a team requires collaboration and good communication, but with more people involved there are more opportunities for someone to forget to “reply all.”

Recently my interns and I began using Asana, a web and mobile application, designed by Facebook employees to improve the company’s productivity. We like it because it has allowed us to send fewer emails and it never lets us busy ladies forget anything!

There are a few reasons we think you’ll love it too:

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Use Lists to Cut Out Clutter

Andrew Mellen Headshot Tighter

I love meeting people who are just as organized as I am and getting the chance to learn something new from them. I went to the BlogHer conference in Chicago last weekend (more about the productivity tips and tricks on outsourcing that I learned there to come soon!) and met Andrew Mellen, bestselling author of Unstuff Your Life. Needless to say, he’s an expert at staying organized and keeping it together! So I thought he’d be the perfect “list producer” to feature:

Q: Why do you call yourself a compulsive list producer?

A: I don’t. I call myself a practical list producer.

Q: What do you make lists about?

A: Things I need to do that need to get out of my head, onto a page, then onto my calendar.

These are typically:

Errands

Home Projects

Work Projects

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Toss or Keep Your Lists?

It’s always so interesting for me to hear how other people manage their to-do lists.  For instance — I thought everyone kept their lists after crossing everything off — just like I do.  Apparently that’s not the case.  A lot of people toss their lists as soon as they’re done!

I Keep All My Lists!

For me — I like to keep all my work to-dos in Steno pads and keep them in my desk.  Each day before I leave work I write a new list for the following day.  I run through the next day in my head and list out every phone call, followup email, meeting and shoot I need to take care of the next day.  But even when I fill up the pad — I keep it in my desk…just in case.

Sometimes I have to refer back to a note I made on a page or remember what I was doing on a particular day.  I just like to have a record of my life — even if it’s a scratched out, doodled on version.  Apparently so does Karen Rizzo (no relation) — as she told her memoir, “Things to Bring, S#!t To Do” entirely in lists!

Many People Toss Them

But there are some people who throw out their Post-its the second they accomplish whatever goal they set for themselves.  I guess this is a way of physically getting the task out of your way so you can clear your head and move onto the next task.

So what about you —  toss or keep?

Join My Virtual Meetup

L is for Lists

L is for Lists (Photo credit: Swiv)

Since starting my Meetup group Lists & Libations in NYC I’ve gotten a lot of requests to organize a virtual Meetup.  So I’m hosting one tonight for all the people who aren’t in NYC or can’t make our in-person Meetups.

There are 3 spots left in our Google+ Hangout tonight.  If you’re interested in tonight’s theme: “Common List-Making Mistakes,” please signup and join us!

If there’s interest — I’d be happy to host more of these virtual Meetups so we can chat face to face!  Hope to see you tonight.