Making a List - Futuristic Life Management Taken for Granted

Imagine an age, say… Medieval. Margaret exists as a servant to King Henry (one often known to kill those that upset him) - cooking, cleaning, running errands, etc. are all various aspects of her life. All of these things involve steps – heat water, add broth, add vegetables, etc. Now imagine Margaret is not a professional “Iron Chef” and she has a memory considered to be “sub-par” at best. Being as poor as she is, she cannot afford parchment and ink in order to write down her lists or recipes. She cooks the dinner in the improper order, resulting in a horrible stew worthy only of a poor starving College Student. Henry is much less than happy and immediately has Margaret sent to “the tower” in order to have her imprisoned and killed for this powerful treachery of his taste buds.

The list - Something that is VERY often taken for granted by the unorganized. Me being one of the most prevalent culprits of this crime. Imagine if Margaret had the luxury of a notepad, lined paper or a day planner – Henry would have received a much more properly prepared stew and she would have lived at least a few days longer. Obviously today we would not be killed for making dinner incorrectly, being late for a meeting or forgetting socks for the summer trip – however these things are all still important. If we sat down, took 2 minutes out of our hectic and busy lives and just wrote down “bring socks,” we would not be riddled with blisters, smelly shoes or a trip to a shady late night convenience store to buy a 17$ bag of off white socks.

I can admit that I never make lists, I never write down reminders, a sticky note, nothing. I can also admit that I forget… everything. I forget at least one thing on every trip, I always forget things for class, I even forgot to bring my wedding present to a wedding I recently attended, causing our limo to have to reroute in order to retrieve it – you can believe that none of my friends were particularly happy at my failure. Every time these things happen to me, I just think – damnit… I should have made a list. Lists are such a simple practice that can immediately shift someone from chronic forgetfulness to a more punctual, less forgetful and more organized person. The best part, it only takes a piece of paper, a pen and a few minutes of your time – in the end it could save you hours, you never know.