I like big lists and I cannot lie. I use them every day for everything. Bullet points give me order. Checkboxes give me peace. Lists save me time, keep me from forgetting things, and help me to be more productive.
Can you relate?
The other day, I was surprised to hear that Warren Buffet doesn’t make lists. I heard it from the man himself in a video. He says he doesn’t need lists because he knows what he needs to do and wants to do, and that’s what he does.
And he has so much money, he can do whatever he damn pleases. Okay, I made that part up, but c’mon, we know that’s true.
What about a calendar? That’s a list. You need to know about upcoming meetings and conference calls and appointments. Does he have someone who keeps that list for him?
What about the agenda when he delivers his annual report to shareholders? That’s a list, isn’t it? Does he read from a printed statement? That’s a list in narrative form, yes?
Anyway, this isn’t about the nitty gritty about what he does and doesn’t do. It’s about me romanticizing the idea of being so comfortable about your situation that you don’t need to make lists to keep you on track.
I thought about what that would be like and wonder of wonders, I realized that I could actually make that sorta work.
I know the projects I want to work on today and this week. And I will work on them. Without needing to check my list. I know because they are important to me.
I also know my daily and weekly routine tasks. Without a list and reminders, I might overlook some of them, but I’d get the most important ones done.
I also know what I want to do after I finish my current projects and wrap up the week. How do I know? My subconscious mind reminds me. It knows what I need to do. And want to do. If it’s important, I won’t forget it. If I forget it, it wasn’t important.
Maybe Mr. B. is onto something.
Hold on. David Allen tells us to write down everything, to get it out of our heads and free up cognitive space for creating new ideas and working on them.
Who’s right? The GTD guy or the weirdo who eats McDonalds every day?
Tell you what, until I can hang with Mr. B., I’m sticking with Mr. A.
Because I like big lists and I cannot lie.
