Do You Love a Listicle?

Do I?

Well, no.

I don’t particularly like listicles, and I would say that I’m not a fan of lists, but, thinking about it, that’s not true.

I guess the lists I don’t like are the ones my partner trots out. He might start a conversation about someone from the tennis club, for example, and he’ll give me a list about the man, such as where he lives, what he works at, how well he plays, what car he drives and on and on.

And I’m very patient. Not. I have been known to scream, ‘stop giving me a list’.

But I do like lists. In fact, I listicle my life. And this article is, basically, a list of how I use lists.

Listing items to write about

I would call this section writing lists, but that would have sounded like I was writing a list rather than talking about how lists help me write.

When I have an idea about something I want to write about, I create a title, and then I start to write a list of section headings. I’ll keep coming back to the list during the day, and then the following day, I’ll go through the list, delete the faintly ridiculous items, and organise the rest of the list into some order, and this becomes my next writing project.

Writing the title of an idea is the start, but starting to write from here would be overwhelming to me whereas writing a list of items, I want to talk about means that the article almost writes itself.

Almost.

But there’s no denying that there’s something satisfying about ticking off items, whether it’s a list of writing subjects or a to-do list.

The To-Do list

I have a lot on my to-do list, things that I want to achieve during the day. But if I look at my partner’s to-do list, his list often has things like ‘shower’ and ‘breakfast’.

I know that I’m unlikely to get through everything on my list, but that’s not the point of the list. The point is to remind me of things that are still to do, not that I have to do right now.

I use a Remarkable to write on, and I love erasing the items I’ve finished. It makes me happy to see gaps in the list, but I never lose sight of who has written the list.

Yes, me. It’s my list. So why would I get upset if I don’t complete everything on the list? I have clients who beat themselves up for never getting through their list as if it’s a personal failure. If this is you, I suggest adding ‘shower’ and ‘breakfast’ to the list, and then you’ll have no trouble zipping through the items.

Making a list helps organise your thoughts and feel more in control. When you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the things you have to do, breaking them down into a list can help you to feel like you’re making progress. Seeing your tasks laid out in front of you can also give you a better sense of how long they’ll take and whether you’re realistically going to be able to get everything done.

I use my list as a memory aid. I write my list when I finish work to prepare for the next day, and, yes, there are lots of items carried over from one day to the next, but all that tells me is that they’re not a priority. But I don’t want to think about what I need to do, I just want to do it.

I also have a food shopping list that I add to during the week.

Food shopping list

I’ve worked with hundreds of weight loss clients over the years, and I always ask them to list 5–7 meals for the week.

And they always argue about it.

They tell me that they don’t want to be tied to specific meals. That they want to choose their meals spontaneously.

And, yet, these are the clients who rigidly follow a diet sheet that someone else has devised or follow a shake and bar programme.

But I’m not telling them that they have to stick to whatever meal they’ve decided to cook on Monday, but by writing a list of meals for the week and then shopping for these meals, they don’t have to think about food all the time.

There’s nothing more frustrating than wondering what to cook when you’re on your way home from work, and you know that there isn’t enough in the fridge or cupboard to make a meal with. It’s quicker and easier to pick up a ready meal and throw it in the microwave.

Or you get home hungry, and all you’ve got are a few limp vegetables and a low-calorie beer in the fridge. What do you do? Yep, it’s take away time.

But, if you have a running list that you can add to when a meal comes to mind that’s quick and easy for you to prepare and cook, you’ll soon have a list that you can pick a few meals from. Then you can shop for these meals and rest in the knowledge that you can choose what to eat that evening, knowing that you have everything you need.

And every client that resisted the food list eventually gave in and then reported that this was the key to their weight loss.

Writing a list is therapeutic; it’s a brain dump and can clear your mind. You know that it’s the job of your subconscious to remind you of things you’ve forgotten. You know the feeling when you’re watching a film, and you turn to someone and ask them what else you’ve just seen the actor in and then the answer comes to you at 3 am?

It’s the same if you have something on your mind that you know you have to do, your subconscious will keep prodding you, but if you’ve written your to-do list, you can let go of the mental pressure to remember.

This is the ‘Zeigarnik effect’; Russian psychologist, Bluma Zeigarnik, realised that the brain obsesses over upcoming tasks. You remember things you need to do more than the tasks you’ve finished.

And who wants to spend time obsessing about things they need to do? I’m all about having less on your mind and more on your list.