Laura And Her Lists

Laura becomes physically uneasy if something causes her to miss even a single day. It has been an important part of her daily life, weekends and vacations included, for as long as she can remember.

Nothing is quite right until she stops and sets aside a moment to draw up her to-do list.

There are routine chores, ongoing projects broken down into manageable steps, as well as activities that promise pleasure and enrichment.

Some items get carried over from one day’s list to the next. When an entry is finally retired Laura goes back and crosses it off from that day’s list and all the earlier ones as well. Crossing off a unpleasant task is especially gratifying because now it is behind you and you’ve proven, once again, exactly what you’re made of.

Laura Dell keeps her lists organized just so. She staples her yellow legal-pad pages together at the end of the month and stores them chronologically in marked boxes.

Making a list sparks ideas and connections. Chance entries take on a life of their own. Penicillin must have on Fleming’s to-do list.

Laura’s mother impressed on her that time is not to be wasted, it’s not replaceable, and that you’ll need it if you mean to accomplish anything in life.

If her habit seems like a compulsion, it’s one that has served her well. She is a organization-development consultant whose billable hours are the basis of her income. As a divorced working woman who raised three children, survival has always depended of juggling demands.

Laura suspects that her obsession may have at times affected her physical well-being. To this day she delights in telling that when her children were young, they’d find her list and scribble ‘go to the bathroom’ as something she should consider doing from time to time.