Most of you know that when I finished writing The Old Man in the Void--now renamed Dex's Way--I said I needed to tackle my to-do list before I could start writing again. The goal was to get down to 30 items from the 150 or so I had piled up.
I don't know if I'm good or bad with to-do lists. On the one hand, I generally keep up and do an impressive amount of stuff. On the other, I cannot chop them down--it's like a hydra; more spring up in their place.
My to-do lists are in two forms: Outlook and written. Written usually has more to do with the real world--like groceries, housekeeping chores, etc.--while the Outlook one is more writing. However, there is a lot of overlap--I flag or send myself e-mails abut the kids' school events, for example. Overall, the list has these items:
--Things I'm sure I'll forget, like call the chiropractor because I've been sitting too long at the desk.
--E-mails I need to follow-up on but can't do right away.
--E-mails I've sent to others that I need to follow up on, like following up on submissions (I flag these for months from the send date.)
--Things I want to read later or read again
--Long-term projects that need occasional reminding.
For one day, I actually made it! Technically, it was down to 60+, but most of those were follow-ups. Then I started planning the Live and Let Fly book tour, and that added nearly 50 items. Of course, there's all the usual stuff I get, which can generate about 5 flagged tasks a day. So, now I'm back up to 100, 30 of which are follow-up later.
I am proud of myself, though, because I chopped down some of the bigger projects this past week, things that took days instead of hours. This week, before the Catholic Writers Conference Online, I hope to chop the list back down to 60.
Not that it will stay that way, but in April, I start writing Gapman, anyway!
What's your to-do list look like?
