I am low tech and just use a dayplanner, but that aside I do exactly the same thing. Right down to the writing down of things I've already done just so I can cross them off and feel oh so accomplished.

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Now I am not alone.

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Dude, I know the addiction all too well. For me, it's less the Joy of Checks, and more about having e-books near at hand and, of course, the absolute NECESSITY of my accounting software. Swear to CHRIST, since my Zire died, I have had NO idea how much money I have. NO CLUE! Which has caused me a few close calls and quite a bit of hand wringing, especially when I discovered that my truck needed $400 in unexpected repairs.

But I can't afford to upgrade to a Treo or a T/X yet, and I didn't want to pay $100 to just get what I had before since I *PLAN* to upgrade within the next year... Luckily they had Zire 21s on ebay for less than $20. My financial security is SAVED!

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Awesome! And now you are organized.

But phear my Treo.

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I do the same thing with my generic day planner. I'm a SAHM, and I get an inordinate amount of pleasure actually accomplishing things beyond "Keeping the children alive" and "Fighting the Laundry Monster".

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Checking off tasks accomplished is self validation and is a healthy thing to do.

I did a paper and pen version of this when my babies were little and close together in age. When my hubby would come home and say something totally dumb, like "Looks like you didn't get much done today.", while I felt exhausted, I needed the checking off of things accomplished to give me self approval. Once I had done this for a few weeks and could be sure his veiled criticism was false, I took him to task for undermining me instead of supporting me in my role as Mom. Mothering can be a pretty thankless task, and I think that's one of the reasons so many women opt to work outside the home instead.

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Absolutely. I'm a SAHM now with two little ones (3 and 1). I make a checklist so my days don't disappear and I give myself some validation that things were done.

How did you keep from throwing something at your husband's head when he said that boneheaded statement?

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Partly it was because I had some sense that I WASN'T getting anything done. When I put it on paper, it was clear that HUGE amounts of time were spent (not surprisingly) on changing and feeding and cleaning up after two little ones. Most of the tasks I DID accomplish beyond those were "shoveling against the tide" ones. Washing dishes and clothes that would be dirty again before the day was out, sweeping floors that would look the same an hour later. I started working smarter. I left them in clothes with a little oatmeal on the sleeve, knowing that when they spilled the juice (inevitable!) on it, it would be in the wash anyway. Used paper plates and cups wherever I could, rinsed out my teacup instead of taking a new one each time, etc. The floors I did late in the day, just before Dad came in, so they would have a chance to be seen clean. Cooked one big roast and used it several nights instead of cooking a seperate entee each night, used more frozen veggies instead of fresh, etc.

Once I was aware of just how big a job I WAS doing, I made sure he knew it, too! I made a point of leaving him in charge once or twice on a Saturday, so he could experience just what kind of "merry-go-round" it can be. I posted in a prominent place my favorite cartoon of all time; first panel, a Dad comes home and finds the front lawn littered with toys. second panel, he steps inside and finds the couch piled with laundry, a plant knocked over and dirt spilled, toys everywhere, third panel, at the kitchen table his wife is reading a book, surrounded by chaos-dirty dishes, pans, spills,toys, etc. "What's going on here?" he asks. "Remember all those times you asked what I did all day?" she responds."Well, today, I didn't."

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Hee! I love that cartoon/story as well. :)

I know the feeling that things aren't getting done. That's why (at least on the second kid), I've learned to let certain things slide and to focus on the things that actually make a difference. Your example about letting a slightly stained piece of clothing stay on is perfect. I tend to fix hair once in the morning and only when we are heading out the door for something.

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I used to do much the same (I highly recommend Life Balance). And nowadays I have a calendar that's constantly full and synchs between my phone and Google Calendar, to make sure I know where I have to be at all times.

And I've found I have to schedule in downtime, or I'm just too busy to hang out at the flat. So scheduling in calls to friends seems entirely reasonable to me.

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yay! I was trying to remember the name of Life Balance. I read about it ages ago, and have been strongly considering buying a PDA just so I could get it.

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Oooh! Oooh! Speaking of check marks and scheduling, what's your itenerary look like for this weekend? T. and I will be in town and we'd LOVE to hang out with you guys!

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Oooo... That's a problem. We're helping Nate and Holly move this weekend. We'd love it, too, but I dunno if we have the time!

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You know, I do the same thing, but without a PDA. I get bored at work and I take out my little notebook and make lists of everything I want/need to do that isn't work related.

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Ahhhh man! You're making me hot for a PDA now! Ya see, I have the same addiction with my task-list at work. It's outlook based and I've become so addicted that I even mark how much time I spent on each task (no matter how small or insignificant) and put them into a category. Then I take the completed list into Excel at the end of the month and proudly proclaim to my boss how much time I've spent on each type of task. (and I too have added tasks to my list *after* I've completed them).
It all started as a way to remember my accomplishments each month and to help re-write my job description...but then I became the addict. I swore to myself that if I started graphing things I'd need to seek help.
I fear for my sanity should I ever get a PDA!

(the day Outlook was down at work, I was nuts cause I had absoultely no idea what I was supposed to be working on....I love technology!)

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Treo is compatible with the phone system at work.

Can you call and find out if there would be any refurn for my current phone? I think we threw out the box, though....

[still dithering....]

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On the phone right now.

Because MY TREO told me that I must do it.

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[dithering less...]

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Oh man, now I want to use the task organizer.
I was keeping away from it because- well... I like making checks, too =(

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Have you read Getting Things Done?

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No, I have not. Do you recommend it?

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Yes. It's the first book of its kind that seems to have recommendations I can actually follow. Ways to have and manage sane lists that give regular feedback that you are getting things done without feeling overwhelmed by the lists is core to the method.

I've implemented the techniques in small areas of my life and it's worked amazingly well so far. I want to expand it to cover everything but haven't gotten there yet.

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See also http://www.davidco.com/

You can buy the book there, along with other things by the same guy, though I recommend starting with GTD and going from there.

There are some cool tools out there for doing GTD with PDAs and the like; if you use Outlook and something that syncs with it (as I have to do for work, not that I'm recommending Outlook) I recommend something called the Jello Dashboard for doing GTD with Outlook/PDA. I really like it, both from a practical standpoint and a technical one.

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I am totally the bitch of the "floating event", which will follow you around until checked off.

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Yup. Oh yeah, I do that.

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I'm just the same...one of the happiest periods in my life was last summer when I was working at HarperCollins and could be Outlook's devoted task list slave....I even taught to my bosses, spreading the gospel of ocd list making as far and wide as I could. I love the endless methods of sorting and categorizing the list, of being 25% done, or 52%, or 78%....those were the glory days.

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Thought I was the only one.

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One of the saddest days of my life (and this should tell you something, either I haven't had many, or else I'm insane) was the day my PDA broke. I'd gotten it for free from my school on graduation day, and it was my summer love. That relationship lasted over 6 months, but alas, it was not meant to be. :'( I still get sad/angry when I think about it....

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