Weekly Quote: Make a List

This week’s quote is from Jon Acuff’s book Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking.

I love lists. I always have. Creating lists brings me a sense of control and focus that is so empowering.

I use digital and analog tools to collect data and am pleased with this hybrid approach. Tasks end up in Todoist, and items that aren’t as fully formed or action-oriented find their home in Craft.

I find lists to be especially useful as a tool to slow my mind down during a stressful or unexpected challenge. I will take five or ten minutes, find a quiet place, and write everything down in these situations.

I think of this as reactive list building, although it’s essentially a brain dump, a concept popularized by David Allen’s Getting Things Done. I find that doing this helps me sort out a situation by getting organized, and it helps bring a sense of clarity to the challenges ahead.

Are you a list builder? What tools do you use? I’m going to write more about this in the future and would love to hear from you.