Do You Use Lists?

I confess, I am an avid ‘List Maker’. For me, it is the only way to keep organized, especially on a big project. As long as the list is complete, it prevents overlooking or forgetting something important. Some lists I re-use over and over again. For example, I have a list of items that we need to order and/or prepare in advance of every packaging trade show. This is a check-off list that I use for all shows and it has successfully worked for us since I started here. As long as we check-off every item on the list (some as they are ordered in advance, others as they are loaded on the truck leaving for the show), we know that nothing has been over-looked or left behind. The important part of using a list is making sure the list is complete. From time to time it is necessary to update the list and make changes.

I also make lists of projects I want to work on. In marketing there is always another project that I want to start and/or complete. I usually write them all down on paper, re-arrange them in the order of importance, then leave the list somewhere on or near my desk where I can refer to it regularly. As I complete projects, I cross them off, as I come up with new ones, I add them to the bottom. Referring to the list is a great way to see what items were completed and I start to notice one or two that seem to linger longer on the list. I then determine why they did not get done and reassess the need to perform the task and/or should we make changes to that task to make it more accessible to complete.

How do you use lists? Do they help keep you organized, or is making the list just one more task?

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.