Listful Thinking

“Listful Thinking” by Pauline Rizzo is a quick review about how lists can make a difference in everyday life. She has a nice writing style and throws in humor to make what could be a dullsville topic interesting.

I listened to “Listful Thinking” during the last week of December in an attempt to get closer to my 2017 Goodreads goal and to help start off the year with a focused mindset. As someone who likely has genetic OCD and is an account (also seems to run in the family) by trade, lists are a must! Excel is my friend, no joke. In fact, I've been on the hunt for task and calendar organization systems to support my consulting business (I am a Finance & Accounting consultant for 4 micro non-profits). In addition to being attracted to the topic, I liked that the audiobook was less than 4 hours (and was a toss-up with Carrie Fisher's rhyming “Wishful Drinking” for that reason!).

One helpful pointer that the author provides is to set an intention for the list. Setting an intention for the day's practice is common guidance from yoga teachers and is a useful way to align your mind in one direction. I use the Grocery IQ app to track shopping lists. Now, the minute we run out of mustard or think it would be nice to pick up pretzels, we just hop onto the app. The app also lets you categorize the item into a store and aisle along with weight, quantity, and description. Using this list saves tons of time and money at the grocery store because it's flexible, but focused.

I always find that adding to or making a list gets those pesky, reoccurring thoughts out of my head. Otherwise, I walk around thinking “I need to research this for work” or “I would like to read that book” and not focusing as much on what I'm doing.

Some of the list examples aren't applicable for many people, but there are a number of apps discussed at the end that, like Grocery IQ (and Goodreads!), are free and extremely useful. The author mentions that some downloadable lists are available on her site, but I think a book like this could be improved with blank and completed lists for those who seek more direction on how to set up helpful lists specific to certain topics.