Dealing with the Necessities of Life : Using Your Lists

The self-assessment
questionnaires in Tables 1 and 2
will help you determine the best format and configuration for your
family’s checklists. Have each family member complete both
questionnaires. Keep in mind that, in the end, each person will be able
to have her own individual checklist that suits her personal style.

Table 1.  Handwritten or Typewritten?

	a	b
1. If you are handed a page with both typed text and handwritten text, which text do you read first? Typed text Handwritten text
2. When someone sends you a thank-you note, which do you prefer receiving? A printed thank-you card A handwritten note
3. Do you hesitate to write changes or questions on a printed document? Yes No

Table 2.  Indicating a “To Do” Is Done

If you had your choice, which of the following methods would you use to indicate you had completed an item on a checklist?
• Check it off.
• Cross it out/draw a line through it.
• Delete it from the list.
• Highlight it.

As you create your
checklists, you can make preliminary assignments of tasks to individual
family members based on each person’s age and other obligations.

You’ll determine
where you keep your lists and how you use them based on the formatting
option you select. Generally, you’ll keep the checklists near your
family’s planner, although as your family becomes more accustomed to
using the schedule, some members will take full responsibility for the
location and use of their own checklists.

If you answered more a‘s than b‘s, try using typewritten lists. Conversely, if you answered more b‘s than a‘s, try using handwritten lists, even if they are photocopies.

The questionnaire in Table 1 will help each person decide whether she responds better to words that are typewritten or words that are handwritten. You’ll find that by using the kind of printing that carries the most weight in the user’s mind, you’ll help her to focus on the message being conveyed by the list—that is, what needs to be done. The added focus may be just the boost she needs to actually do the job.

Next, you need to find
an efficient way to present your checklists over and over again. After
all, you’ll need 365 daily checklists, 52 weekly checklists, and 12
monthly checklists a year. Of course, several options are available,
each with its own set of plusses and minuses. The following sections
discuss these options in more detail.

Things You’ll Need 

• Paper

• Pen/pencil

• Computer (optional)

• Printer or photocopy machine

• Highlighters (optional)

Using Paper Checklists

Paper checklists can be
used only once. But you can design a daily checklist with enough check
boxes to last a week if you’ve chosen to check things off rather than to
cross them out or highlight them, as shown in Figure 1.
In a similar manner, you can place a month’s worth of weekly checklists
on a single page. If you’ve chosen to use typewritten lists, you can
make a master list on your computer and then print off clean
copies—modified to include new assignments, if appropriate—as you need
them. If your family responds better to handwriting, you can save the
time of writing a new list every time you need a fresh copy by making
one original and then photocopying it. (The photocopied handwriting will
have almost the same force in the user’s mind as an original
handwritten piece.)

Figure 1. This daily checklist will last your family an entire week. You
can use a checklist like this one with either typewritten or handwritten
text. The column that assigns the task to a particular person is
optional.

Your ability to make
multiple copies of your blank checklists quickly and easily becomes even
more important if your family prefers crossing off or highlighting the
tasks as they’re done. With those methods, if you’re using paper
checklists, you have no choice but to have a separate list for each day,
for each week, and for each month.

Things You’ll Need 

• Paper

• Pen/pencil

• Computer (optional)

• Printer (optional)

• Laminating material

• Dry-erase highlighter (optional)

Using Laminated Checklists

Laminated checklists
are another hard-copy option. You can take a master copy of your
checklist and either laminate it yourself or have it laminated at your
local photocopy store. Then, using dry-erase markers, you can check off
or cross out each item as you do it. At the end of the day, week, or
month, as the case may be, you can wipe the list clean and start all
over again using the same list. A new erasable highlighter on the market
can be used on a laminated list, but the amount of highlighting
material to clean off will make this alternative rather messy. If you’re
going to write in who is responsible for each task and you’re going to
rotate among your family members, then remember to leave the assignment
blank on the master copy and fill in the names on top of the laminate
where they can be wiped off and changed.

Remember, those names will be handwritten, so if most people in your family respond better to their names if they’re typewritten, then this option will not be ideal.

Things You’ll Need 

• Pen/pencil and 3×5-inch index cards, or Computer, Printer, and Microperforated sheets of 3×5-inch cards

• A large magnetic surface

• Small magnets

• A file card box

• File card dividers

Using 3×5 Cards

Cards are the best
alternative for you if you want a hard-copy checklist where you delete
the task after you’ve completed it. You’ll put just one to do item on
each card. Then you can assemble the checklist by posting all of the
relevant cards. A good system for this method that won’t wear out is
hanging 3- by 5-inch cards with the tasks onto a large magnetic surface;
the refrigerator is a traditional choice.

Of course, you can write
on 3×5 index cards. If, however, you want typewriting on your cards, you
can get microperforated sheets of 3×5 cards that you can print on your
computer. Because the cards are reusable, you’ll find that the amount of
time and effort to set up the system is worth the results. As each task
is completed, you can remove the card and place it back into a file box
or other holder so it’s available to use again the next time you create
a list.

Because you’ll have cards
for each day of the week and cards for each month of the year, a good
way to keep the cards that aren’t posted currently is to use an index
card file box with dividers labeled with the names of the days and
months. You can make your own set using blank dividers.

Things You’ll Need 

• A desktop computer or a PDA

Using Digital Lists

A list on your
desktop computer will allow you to use any method to indicate task
completion. The easiest way to create a computer list that you can check
off is to use the checklist option for outlines in your word processor.
Or, if you don’t have that option, you can simply type check marks in
front of the items on your list. You can cross items out by using the
strikethrough style in your word processor. You can highlight text
either by using a highlight option or by changing the text color of the
entry. And, of course, you can select a line of text and delete it if
you want to remove the completed task.

PDA checklists will work as long as you prefer checking off or deleting completed items. In Figure 2, the choice has been made to check off tasks as they’re finished, whereas in Figure 3
the choice has been made to hide the finished items. Either way, the
complete list can be retrieved, so you can use it over again without
having to re-create it.

Figure 2. You can easily create a checklist on a PDA.

Figure 3. You can change the settings on your PDA to do list so that you see only the items that you still have to complete.

Comparing List Types

Table 3 gives you a quick reference guide to see which checklist formats will work with your family’s preferences.

Table 3. Formatting Options for Checklists

	Cross Out	Check Off	Highlight	Delete
Handwritten	Single-use paper Laminated sheet	Single-use paper Laminated sheet	Single-use paper Laminated sheet	Cards
Typewritten hard copy	Single-use paper Laminated sheet	Single-use paper Laminated sheet	Single-use paper Laminated sheet	Cards
Typewritten electronic	Desktop	Desktop PDA	Desktop	Desktop PDA

Things You’ll Need 

• The time-specific lists you created earlier in this chapter

• Your family’s planner

Integrating Your Checklists with Your Planner

Now you’re ready to finalize your checklists and integrate them into your planner.

No matter which form of checklist your family has chosen, you should include all of the following information on each checklist:

• A description of the task

• Your time estimate for the task

• The name of the person responsible for completing the task

• A check box (only if you’ve chosen the check-off method)

You’ll find that your monthly checklists are easier to use if you put the tasks in chronological order, as shown in Figure 4, because the next step is to schedule enough time each day on your planner to complete the tasks listed for that day.

Figure 4. The tasks on this monthly checklist have been arranged
chronologically to make it easier to see how much time needs to be
blocked off on the family planner each day.

This process gives you another opportunity to fine-tune your time-specific lists:

• If a task is
  listed as a daily item but doesn’t happen on a particular day, then you
  won’t schedule time for it on that day. An example would be going
  through the mail, which you need to do daily, except on Sundays because
  there’s no mail delivery.

• If
  something seems to be missing or you notice that something is never
  getting done, you can use that as an indicator that you should look back
  and check whether you’ve listed it to be done at a good frequency—or
  whether you’ve listed it at all.

• If
  you discover that some of your time estimates are unrealistic—either
  too short or too long—adjust them to reflect reality. Encourage everyone
  to continue to try to reduce the time each task takes by becoming more
  efficient and proficient at it.

• Your
  family can decide to change the frequencies of tasks and who’s assigned
  to do them whenever you agree that a change is appropriate.