To-Do or Not To-Do?

I'm the type of person who has the attention span of a gnat. This doesn't mean that I can't focus on one thing for a long period of time. It's more like my mind is so crammed full of things to think about that I can jump from topic to topic to topic so quickly that a lot of the time my thoughts appear completely random and disjointed. I tell you that it is not usually the case, and when I need to connect the dots for an unsuspecting listener, I can do so rather quickly. It rarely makes sense to anyone one else but me, but I'm okay with that. It must just be how I'm wired.

I love to-do lists. I like knowing exactly everything I need to get done. Plus, I figure it's a good way to get out on paper all of the jumbled thoughts I just described above. My lists are quite detailed at times, from making my grocery list based on the aisles in the store to even listing my tasks in the order they need to get done. You may think "duh, who doesn't?" but let me explain. Yes, it makes sense to put things in chronological order. However, I often go beyond that and list out the order I need to do things just to get to actual items on my list. Confused? Say I need to schedule an appointment to have the cable guy fix my satellite dish. The beginning of my list would look a little like this:

-Look up DirecTV phone number
-Call DirecTV to make appt.
-Write appointment on calendar

It is a little ridiculous. I think spend more time making the list than actually doing the task! That implies that I always accomplish what I've set out to do because I made a list :) Yeah, not so much. I have good intentions, I swear. I've been plagued with procrastination since childhood. I would be told to clean my room and I'd end up spending hours reminiscing as I looked through every item in my closet. Some things never change.

I've considered giving up the To-Do list, but doubt that I can survive without it. Even if nothing ever gets done, I believe it's therapeutic.

I guess I should just be happy that I feel quite satisfactory when I cross off a day on my calendar, like I've accomplished something for the day.

Yeah, I'll take that.