Anne here. Are you a list-maker? I have to admit, I am. I make shopping lists, to-do lists, packing lists for when I go away, lists of plans and resolutions -- all sorts of lists.
In fact I've graduated from being a keeper of endless scraps of paper to something called a bullet journal. Have you heard of them? It's a craze that's been sweeping the world for the past few years.
If you want to know what I mean search pinterest or google images for "bullet journal" – there are hundreds of examples, ranging from the flamboyant and artistic, to the terse and spare -- and even the ever-so-slightly anal.
A bullet journal is a way of organizing your life, keeping lists of what you need to do (or eat or exercise or whatever.) Some people take it to extremes and create elaborate and detailed lists for almost every aspect of their lives. There is endless scope for perfectionism and procrastination with the bullet journal. It also works — or it does for me.
I've been keeping a bullet journal for nearly a year now. Mine's not pretty at all — not like some you see on the web, with colorful writing and pretty calligraphy and sketches and meaningful quotes about life. The one on the left is from this site.
No, mine is just a small graph paper book with my not-particularly- elegant black printing. There is a recommended way of setting up a bullet journal, but though I started like that, I didn't continue — there is no right way, just the way that suits you, so in mine, there are just lists of things I need to do, organized under headings, and I cross them out when I've finished.
It helps me remember, prioritize and keep a record of the various things I have to do. I’ve always been a list maker — before I started writing full time, when I was working in paid employment, I carried a large diary that was full of to-do lists with things crossed out as I did them. It’s a great way to be organized and not to let things be forgotten.
And I have to say, it's very satisfying to cross things out. Actually, I have been known to list things already done, just so I can have the satisfaction of seeing the tasks crossed out.
I'm not alone. It's a very human need, apparently.
It seems our brains are wired to worry about things that are left unfinished — it will not let us relax and forget about them. It can be quite intrusive and distracting and we can lose sleep, even when the thing left uncompleted isn't all that important.
However the mere act of listing the things that need to be done can reduce this anxiety. I'm oversimplifying, of course — if you want to read about this in more detail, look up the Zeigarnik effect.
People have been making lists for thousands of years. Lists are a window into our culture and the lives of everyday as well as famous people. They reflect and reveal our plans and aspirations, our priorities and our beliefs assumptions about what is important in life.
There is a fascinating book by Shaun Usher called Lists of Note, in which he's collected and reproduced some fascinating lists, ranging from a carefully engraved list of excuses for workmen's absences in Ancient Egypt, to a 9th century Tibetan monk's shopping list, a to-do list of Leonardo DaVinci's, a list of pros and cons of marriage written by Charles Darwin, a list of quite punitive conditions imposed on his first wife by Einstein, Marilyn Monroe's New Year's resolutions and many more.
Lists can make us feel satisfied and in control of our lives, or they can make us feel miserable by setting impossibly high standards that we are bound to fail. The young Benjamin Franklin, for instance, set himself an almost impossible schedule of self-improvement, listing his plan to practice thirteen virtues daily— temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility — and keep to a strict daily routine that was left no room for living. It provides a window into his mind and times. And ambition. He was trying to do too much at once. We're all guilty of that at some stage.
Some people make lists for every little thing, as if the making of the list was all that was needing to be done. Psychologists say that obsessive compulsive list makers are trying to create an illusion of control in otherwise chaotic lives. I believe that. I think the increasing demands and contradictions of modern life explains the popularity and growth of the bullet journal movement. It's also, it seems to me, most popular with young people. The web is awash with blogs and videos that showcase, explain and almost preach the virtues of keeping a bullet journal.
Computers could very easily keep track of our commitments and obligations, and yet these bullet journals are almost exclusively hand written and designed. It's a way of personalizing the control, I think, and those folk with more artistic tendencies use their journals as an way of expressing themselves, as well as being organized. In an age of competing demands and information overload, it's a source of reassurance and control — and pleasure.
Whatever the reason, all around you, people are making and keeping bullet journals. Ask around — you'll be surprised.
Are you a list maker? Do you keep a bullet journal? Does anyone you know? Had you heard of them? Are you tempted to start one?