Order in Chaos

Lately I have had a lot of friends remark on both twitter and facebook that they just love the feeling of crossing something off of their to do list. I too suffer from this disorder, I shall refer to it as “false accomplishment” disorder. I write post-it notes all the time at work, usually just as reminders, sometimes as lists. The truth of the matter, however, is that these post-it are typically representative of isolated events/accomplishments. And even if I did down and make a list of the 20 things I had to do and cross of each thing one by one I’d feel my false sense of accomplishment, only to have it followed by and inevitable “Oh shit” moment in which I realize the other 5 things I left off that list. The most complete lists I make are grocery lists and even when I get every item on that list I come home to realize another item I was running low on or should have picked up. Or I decide to make a recipe I have only half the ingredients for, because well, that’s life for you.

Lists for life, or “to-do” lists I find function about the same way. You finish everything on your list at work only to have a new project thrown at you, or better yet something you thought you finished ends up back on the bottom of some new list. So at the end of the day why do we make lists, and why do we feel such a sense of accomplishment when we finish them? That’s just humans trying to impose order on chaos, and well… that never leads anywhere good. (that’s how religion was invented and look how ridiculous that’s gotten) So… please, before things get out of hand, put down your notepads and your post-its and join me in admitting you have no idea what it is you need to do, and you have no clear concept of if and when you’ll ever truly be able to finish half of those tasks anyways, because things are constantly changing.