Lists

How many of you like making lists? Are you a list person? I wouldn’t consider myself a TRUE list person, but I do make lists of my objectives for the day, the stuff I want to get done. We all know those TRUE list people, it is color-coded, using flair pens, with doodles to match. They make lists for EVERYTHING. That isn’t me, but I do find some pretty intense satisfaction marking things off of my list! I suppose the feeling people get when they watch the millions of “oddly satisfying” videos on YouTube, that’s the feeling of perfectly marking through the next item on my list. There are many benefits of lists. It is well documented, with the research to back it up, I might add. Here is a list of some of the benefits of  lists:

  • It helps create order.

  • It helps prioritize tasks.

  • It provides a sense of productivity.

  • It relieves stress.

The list of the benefits of list-making could go on and on. Lists really are a great productivity tool. I highly suggest for everyone to channel their inner “list person” and make this a part of your daily or nightly routine. I sometimes make my list for the next day the night before or before I leave work for the day. I need lists. Just ask my wife. I WILL NOT come home with the correct items from the grocery store without one.  I want to get this out there...


I am pro-lists. 


Wow that feels good to say…


I also want to get this out there…..


This is not a post about the importance and benefits of lists. 

While the benefits are important and can aid in a feeling of accomplishment. How many times, especially at work, do you actually finish that list? How many times do you have to carry over one, two, or ALL of the things on your list? That is what this post is about. How you react to those times of the unexpected. I can’t think of a day in which I didn’t have an unexpected visit from a parent, teacher, or student. I can have a rock-solid plan for my day and before 8:00 am that is out the window!  

Every day has the unexpected. We make our “to-do” lists. We have our plan, but interruptions that we never saw coming invade our lives and usher in the unexpected. It's how you handle the unexpected that determines the "success" or "failure" of your day, not the lists. Do you react with frustration? Anger? Defeat? Anxiety? Or do you react in a positive manner? Typically things that come up are things you are needed for! Use that as a positive! There are needs that had to be taken care of and you were the one for the job! Those challenges that presented themselves during the day were opportunities to grow and develop yourself and those around you! A change in perspective can very literally change your life! 


We all have interruptions to our plans. We all make plans. Plans are good, plans provide a guide. We really have to expect the unexpected. We can have the best of intentions! Occasionally, the plans laid out with the best intentions don’t come to fruition. Sometimes we fail. Sometimes things get rough. Sometimes everything is pointing us away from where we think we need to be or where we envisioned being. 

Good. 

It makes success that much sweeter!


Lists and plans are vital and necessary. We have to map out what we need or want to get done. They are necessary for our future successes. There are very few people that just float through life without direction and they become successes. We need game plans or lists for everything! This could be at the grocery store, for the day, or long-term goals and ambitions. It feels great to check off items from our lists! We love being productive. It feels good. The people that become truly successful also handle the frustration of not completing that list, of “failing” in a manner that pushes them to be better. Our mindset and outlook during these times are what truly make the difference.

I will leave you with this charge:

Make your lists, follow-through, but be ready to change up your plan when the unexpected shows up, it usually does!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What's Important

Image
If you have read my blog, my tweets, or watched my videos, you know I am passionate about education and I think that overall schools, administration, teachers, students, and parents have absolutely hung the moon! I am surrounded by real-life superheroes! So many in education are ROCKSTARS!  There has been a theme the past month and I personally think it is a GREAT trend! Below are some of the amazing things taking place during the current situation: There has been an increased focus on well-being! This is teacher well-being, student well-being, parent well-being! We are checking on and worried about EVERYONE’S well-being! This is a phenomenal development!  There has been an increased importance placed on relationships and supporting the whole child. There has been an increase in the buzz of SEL and making sure our stakeholders’ needs are taken care of.  Making connections has come to the forefront of education!  Providing grace for our students, our teachers, and our parents has skyroc
Read more

Mental Health and SEL

Image
May is mental health awareness month. Mental health has typically had a stigma attached to it, especially in my home state of Texas. Being real, this is a topic near and dear to my heart. Full transparency, three of my wife and I’s family members have committed suicide and I’m not talking some distant relatives. One was my cousin, who was my next-door neighbor growing up and more like a brother to me, and the other two were my wife’s uncles. As an educator, I also routinely encounter students struggling with mental illness and I have two former students that took their own lives. Just to be frank, those aren’t the only 5 that have struggled with mental health issues, those are just the five that ended it. In our family alone, we have addictions/substance abuse, depression, anxiety, and eating disorders, just to name a few. I personally struggled with an eating disorder from the ages of 16-19, talk about stigma, a teenage male with an eating disorder. The impact mental health has pers
Read more

5 Ways to Support Parents During Emergency Distance Learning

Image
A quick Google search or Twitter search turns up 1,000’s of hits on how to support teachers during emergency distance learning, how to support students during emergency distance learning, how parents can support their children during emergency distance learning, and the list goes on. That is not going to be the focus of this post. There are a few out there, but an overlooked area is how schools, teachers, and administrators can support parents during distance learning. That is going to be the focus of this post. It is our responsibility to serve our parents in any way possible. We want to foster learning and build a positive bridge between school & community. The last thing we want to do is add to their stress. Parents have been put in an almost impossible situation. All of a sudden they have been thrust into a role that many of us never envisioned. Their children are now at home and, with little direction, parents are being expected to provide an appropriate learning environme
Read more