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The Living List one of the most important pillars in the foundation of the Power Time System (PTS).
Part of the process in getting control of your time is to first be able to quantify it. Before you can control and manage something, you need to know what it entails, you need to know how large it is and most importantly, you need to know on an ongoing basis, what changes are taking place. Lets take a closer look.
What Does A Living List Contain?
Everything, in a single word. You need to put down, in a list, in writing, everything you want to do in your life. If this seems like too much work, then your chances of getting what you want to do in life, when you want to do it, have just dropped to about zero. If I have learned anything working in and with Time Management over the last 25 plus years, is that if you don’t have a clear picture of what you want to do and accomplish, written down and kept current, failure is an option and the most likely one.
Here are some of the areas you want to cover in your Living List.
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Professional, work and job related goals
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Relationship, family plans, goals, objectives
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Outside activities, friends, relationships
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Sports, leisure activities
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Self improvement goals
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Civic, charity work
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Religious, social clubs
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Volunteering work, charity involvement
If it takes time, (and what does not?), it must be on your Living List. Must is not too strong a word here. It is from this list that you start to piece together your game plan for the rest of your life. How effective and accurate will that plan be if things you want to do in life are not on it?
Where Does Your Life List Get Recorded?
First and foremost, if it isn’t written down, it doesn’t exist. If you can’t point to it and see it down there in black and white, over time, it will just get shuffled to the back, get lost, be ignored and more than 98 % likely, never see the light of day. As we have said before, get it out of your head and into the system, in this case it’s out of your head and into your Life List.
If you are using the PTS, then you will already have your Day Planner and be using it. Your Life List will be at the back of your Day Planner. Your Day Planner will be at your side, through out the day, if it isn’t, it won’t be doing its job.
You start recording the above-discussed information and ANYTHING else you feel like including. I do mean ANYTHING else. Remember, this is your Life List and it must serve you, not the other way around. Items should pass two criteria to be included in your Life List; anything that will require time to complete in your life, gets put on the list, and the second criteria is, anything else you want on it, should be on it.
Why Is It Called A Living List?
It’s called a Living List because it will expand, grow, change shape, take on different directions, will constantly be added to and subtracted from. It will be constantly evolving, just like your life. It will take on a life of it’s own and prove to be one of the most stabilizing influences in your life if you let it. Some of my clients have referred to their Living Lists as diaries; they put information into them on a daily basis. They find it helps them to focus, stay on course and reduces their stress levels. It helps to reduce their stress levels because when you are in charge, have a clear direction and a course of action. You reach a certain comfort zone.
These are just a few notes on Life Lists. It’s covered in more detail in the PTS. I will say that, minute for minute, there is not a better place to invest your time than in creating and maintaining your own Life List.
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