I have been a long time advocate and practitioner of to-do lists. Never would I have imagined that someone would actually take the time to collect, catalog, and reflect upon the to-do lists of other people. Sasha Cagen has made the effort and accomplished this feat in To-Do List: From Buying Milk to Finding a Soul Mate, What Our Lists Reveal About Us.
When I make a to-do list, I am setting priorities, reserving (dedicating) time, committing myself to objectives, and more importantly, praying about my day because "many are the plans of a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." (Proverbs 19:21 - NIV).
To-do lists are almost always overly ambitious and yet, I often inflate the importance and difficulty of some of the things that i put on my list. As a procrastinator, I find some items keep showing up again and again when a little five minute effort could eliminate them forever.
How I develop my lists, as Sasha Cagen suggests, reveals much about what I value, how I think, and how effective I am at accomplishing my goals.
The wise teacher of Proverbs (21:5 - NIV) said that "The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty."
So this is very a very important as well as entertaining territory.
I approve of Sasha's work and recommend her blog.
You can order her book here and you can watch her talk about it in the video that follows.
Sasha Cagen: To-Do List: From Buying Milk to Finding a Soul Mate, What Our Lists Reveal About Us
Thanks to my MySpace friend, Mind's Eye for calling my attention to this treasure and potential classic.
