To Do Lists or Not to Do

     Dang… the weekend has gone by. I did about 80% of what I wanted to do. I should be happy but I wish I had done more and feel bad about it.  Why is that?
     First, I know I could have planned and executed better. But, I always think that. Most other times when I think that, I have, and allow me to use the technical term here, royally slacked off and therefore did not accomplish what I had planned. That is not the case this weekend. So, I should just lighten up a tad and give myself a break.
     I did start using task management in MS Outlook. It replaced what I had been doing which was to jot my to-dos on the back of envelopes. Literally, I would write my task list on the backs of envelopes or the fronts. Why? There is no other reason but that I like the idea of the backs of envelopes. To me it is a symbol of sorts for innovation. We always hear about this genius idea or that being written on a napkin or on the back of an envelope. So, in my desire to be more, I think that by writing my to-dos on envelopes they will somehow become bigger and more meaningful.
     There are three more, very mundane, reasons for this. First, the envelope might simply be near at hand. So, I grab it and use it. Secondly, envelopes fold and fit in a shirt pocket. Thus, I can take my to-do list with me. When I don’t use envelopes, I use 3x5 cards for the very same reason. Lastly, I am getting a bit more use out of an envelope before tossing it. Instead of using a new 3x5 card and eventually tossing it out, I use an envelope which was about to be tossed out. So, I am actually being environmentally conscious here.
     So, why wasn’t I using the task list app on my phone and MS Outlook, which by the way sync with each other. Seriously, I do everything else on phone, my desktop computer, or laptops.  It seems like a better way to keep track of what must be done instead of having 3x5 cards and envelopes all over the place. The answer to this is quite simple. I like the act of crossing out items on paper with a pen. Sometimes it is just one line. Many times it is crossing out with several lines, back and forth, crossing out with a vengeance. "Take that you lingering task you! Be gone ye stubborn task!"  Plus I can see what is crossed out and what isn’t. On the apps, the completed items tend to disappear and that bothers me. I want to see what I have done even if the things that I did were simple tasks that I did to avoid tackling the harder ones but still giving myself a false sense of accomplishment.
     I am not so sure, I should be giving these glimpses into the maze like structure of how I work… if we can call it work.