on to-do lists, by pen & m

[Reading this discussion, which took place over the course of several emails, I have concluded we are either really brilliant, or deeply neurotic.]

 

pen: have written a to-do list! in a notebook! the dunder-mifflin notebook. and this will be the beginning of an era. i can't get by without them, it is clear.

 

m: to lists!!

it’s a life long pursuit of lists- you might have something on there a year- but it'll get done. perhaps in the back of said awesome notebook you should have a 'long term' to do list. ?

 

pen: yeah, it's like, i don't know why i ever stopped with the lists. they free my mind up, and i feel less stressed knowing it's on paper and not slipping through the cracks. because stuff is slipping through the cracks, and the worst part is that i've stopped caring! not cool. i mean, it's good that i'm not as panicked about shit (i guess??), but i'm really surprised at the length of my list. like all those particles were just floating around in my brain, and i had this vague sense of urgency about them? but i would never have remembered everything. and it feels good to cross stuff off. i'm not sure about this wayward, boundless notebook, but it will work for now. eventually maybe a planner again, but the day boxes need to be the right size. not too small. or too big. definitely a long-term list is in order. [omg, i sound like a cross between goldilocks and rainman.] the background projects. i've already started one. :)

 

m: and listmaking -- i started it for the very same reason- all the things i want to do eat up my head and short circuit my brainpower. it’s terribly inconvenient not to mention the rampant undercurrent of anxiety.

 

pen: listmaking! how i ever thought i could manage my own life, much less 2-3 others w/o a list?! i don't even know. definitely we are just some very active minds and can't be consumed with the trivial details, it will stand in the way of our greatness. best to put it down on paper, cross off, and be done.

 

m: i'm so happy for you and your [gym going/loop walking—separate part of convo]/list making self- it seems like ordered and good and nourishing.

 

pen: my list is long. how did it get so long? also, there are a few different tiers to the list, and i'm worried items will be lost... but at least it's all down on paper.