Friday, April 1, 2011

To-Do Lists

At the beginning of this year, around October probably, just as I was starting my project, I was feeling rather lost. Scratch that, I was feeling extremely lost, disorganized and without direction. I didn't have any research plan in mind and was basically starting from zero on my project. One of the biggest challenges of writing a thesis or doing research independently is that nobody is there looking over your shoulder or giving you tasks to do and it can be extremely overwhelming. You have to be the master of your own destiny, for lack of a better expression, and take matters into your own hands. 

I remember one particular day I was getting really frustrated. Alfonso, my fiance, was living in Zaragoza at the time, so I called him up to vent. He very calmly asked me, "And what happened to your to-do lists?". I took a step back and realized that he was right. The root of my problems was organization. It's important when tackling a bigger project to make smaller, more manageable goals for yourself while always keeping an eye on the big picture. In college, I was the queen of checklists, and my friends would stare in awe of the different lists on my bulletin board with the neat boxes next to each task. Call me a nerd, but I got shit done because there was nothing more satisfying than checking off the latest project. 

After hanging up with Alf (not to be confused with AfL), I went straight home, got out a few sheets of paper and went to town. Maybe I am a little bit out of control, but here are my current lists:

1. A monthly list with all of the project tasks that I want to accomplish
2. A weekly/ daily to-do list with all of the things that I have to do day-by-day
3. A daily to-do that maps out a schedule. The reason for this is that I am inherently a late sleeper and if I didn't make this plan for myself, I would be in bed til noon and never get anything done!
4. Seasonal to-do lists- things that I want to get done in the summer, spring and winter
5. A master list for my trabajo de investigacion and things that I have to do
6. A list of recordings/ transcriptions that need to be done

Call me crazy, but without these lists, it would be impossible for me to get organized. I might be getting a few raised eyebrows from any Spaniards who are reading this, since the obsessive mapping out of one's life in list form contradicts their basic tenet of "enjoy life....it can get done tomorrow". In that way, living her has mellowed me out (despite the gross number of lists that would point to the contrary) and I don't get too stressed out if I don't finish everything. But trying to live without a planner would drive me nuts- I have tried it before and it just doesn't work. 

Things came full circle a few weekends ago when Alf and I made a trip out to Decathalon one weekend and he expressed his frustrations to me about writing his own thesis, which he needs to finish by June. Being a civil engineer, writing is extremely difficult for him and he found himself in a rut. He pulled out all of the excuses "I just don't have time" and "the project just isn't that interesting to me anymore" and "I just don't have anything to say," which I dismissed, telling him to follow his own advice and get organized. You can imagine my satisfaction when a few days later I saw a to-do list on his desk, complete with check boxes, and him working diligently on his project. 

And by the way...

Blog update (check)

(I couldn't resist)

1 comment:

  1. Great post, Rachel! It's true that we Spaniards tend to leave things for tomorrow (procrastination forever) because: Why doing something right now when you can do it later? :P
    I'm gonna try and follow your advice...

    Reading Rachel's blog (check!)

    ReplyDelete