2022
I have found so many uses for Lists over the past few months that I wanted to share a little mini-series of articles about the many ways Lists can simplify, and maybe even save, a life. Each article will contain a background story about what inspired this list type, suggestions for use, selection criteria for contents, and suggested notes content.
My family is getting ready to move. Instead of making a giant paper list with new phone numbers which I lose, refind, lose, research, and find again, I’ve made three lists.
- List 1: Research, Recommendations and Bookmarks
- List 2: The New-City List
- List 3: The Old-City List
List 1: Research, Recommendations and Bookmarks
I added to the first list as I researched or thought of things I wanted to examine further. Examples of places added to this list are the nearest drycleaner, parks, a coffee shop to try or a farmers’ market in our new city. Because lists are so easy to create and maintain, I began making this list during the earliest stages of planning. When I received recommendations from people in my new city, I was able to look places up immediately and ask if I had the right place. Because I can send Google Maps links and have them opened on any device, it was easy to get a "Yes, that location. Make sure to ask for XPerson." Lists don't get "lost" like paper records, so I was easily able to spread my planning over several months without ever losing a single piece of information.
List 2: The New-City List
The second list is an extension of the first list, with the specific focus of selected referrals and continued services. Whenever I met with a care provider in my current city, I asked for, then saved, their recommendation for continuing service in my new area. As an example, while I was at my children's pediatrician in Bozeman, I obtained a recommendation for a Seattle doctor. I was able to look the new doctor up, and immediately requested our Bozeman doctor send medical records to the new office. I then saved the information about the new doctor (and the records transfer) directly into my New-City List, along with the name of the receptionist we sent the records to. This process has also worked for new schools, the dentist, Boy Scouts, our pharmacy, and even museums with reciprocal memberships. This ever-growing index of our services in our new city is my personal condensed phone book.
List 3: The Old-City List
For the third list, The Old-City List, I am adding the services and organizations which we have been using in Bozeman. After moving, it could be easy to forget our old service providers, or who we talked to at each office/organization. In the notes section, I add phone extensions, emails, and names. In the future, if I need to find information from this part of our lives, my list will provide me with the details necessary to do so in only a few taps of my finger.
I have used these lists more times than I can count. When moving an entire family and tending to all of their needs, lists provide an invaluable service, taking a huge amount of the mental load off my plate, freeing up my time and saving me immeasurable stress.
Lists Can Do Everything: The Collection
@MortenCopenhagen I'll try breaking it down differently. Thank you for the feedback. If you have time, I'd love your opinion on a second pass of the article.
