The List

I made a pact with myself this summer - "work hard, play hard" I told myself. Well, I'm definitely working hard. In no small part because of "the list".

"The list" is my list of tasks that I wanted to take care of this summer before September when I'm back in school and hockey season starts again. Once those two things happen my free time fills up really fast. The list helps me to stay focused. I've been able to remind myself from time to time of the things that I have accomplished - feels good to cross something off, keeps me motivated - and of the things that I have meant to do but forgot about. Some things were simple but I just kept putting them off. Some things were just about biting the bullet and paying for them to be done. Some things are small goals I've set for myself. Some things are big projects so I'm stretching them out and working on them a little bit at a time with the hopes of finishing them by the end of the summer.

The one over-riding problem with the list is that it's not exhaustive. As I keep thinking about things that I want done, I add them. This means that it never seems to shrink. It almost seems to be a bottomless job jar. A moving target, if you will, as the end never seems to be in sight. We are in a long week-end here, and I spent almost all of today either working at one of my two jobs (see next blog) or working at home. Tomorrow looks bad too. The day after - not much better. So much for a long week-end. Productive? Yes. Relaxing? Not in the least.

My new plan is to stop adding to list and try and catch up with what I have. I keep being reminded of the other half of the promise to myself. Mostly by others, but sometimes by me. I've made a conscious effort to do a few things this summer, but it's not at the level I was hoping for. Maybe I'll add "do something fun" to the list. Then I just might do it.