Making lists:is it a good idea?

I discovered one thing about me with ocd.I started making more lists than before I had ocd.I find I'm more organised by making a list for various things.

As I make more progress I find making lists comforting.It means if I forget something I can look up the list.My shopping list for example, has become more detailed.I have to get other people to do my shopping for me so I need to give them the right information.It worked out better for all of us.

I feel more organised in my life so I can keep track of whats going on.

On a variation of this,I never kept a diary/journal until mid year last year.Then I discovered I needed to know what progress I had made and what day.I got motavated to improve my diary by adding detail.Its brilliant.My practitioner thinks its a great idea too.There are so many more pages.

Just something to think about.

Another Chris.

I am a list person. Lists for everything. I have my nearest grocer list categorized by foods I typically buy in each aisle and each week I print the list and highlight the food I want to buy. I have small notepads for day to day, large notepads for longer lists and thoughts and I have a large notebook to categorize recipes that I like or want to try from my ~ 100 cookbooks.

i went through a phase of making lists, but then came to the realisation, that i never actually had the motivation to do anything written on the list

but because of my bad memory it's still a good idea for me to write them and then come back to it

I like to make lists when I have a specific event coming up with lots of parts and all the details are running around in my head :-) I'm going on vacation for a month in a couple weeks and the things I need to do before then, for example; everything from throwing out any potatoes I have before I leave so they won't rot/smell the place up to learning to use my new Christmas camera better. Getting things out of my head and down on paper is very much a relief for me; before I do I feel like I'm juggling and am constantly afraid I'll drop something

i like making to do lists. they are very detailed, and i find it very satisfying to cross things off when they're done. gives me a sense of accomplishment.

Yes.... Otherwise I tend to wonder off!!! It makes me feel good to cross an item off

It is perfectly fine to make lists. Has someone tried to make you feel bad for making them? If they have, they're pretty insular and narrow-minded. Everyone has different ways of staying organized.

I've been a list person pretty much since I hit high school, and that was when we used chisels on stone tablets......

It seems that making lists is a good idea here.I knew that I was doing good things by writing lists.

Thanks for your feedback.

Den---

I've got a sister in law (a fairly nasty person, in general) who tried to brag that she "never" had to use lists to get things done; trying to imply of course that she was of superior intelligence to me. (This was fine, because it was an early warning that she was highly compettive, and therefore toxic to me---and time has borne out that she is definitely an individual to be avoided, for so many MORE and fascinating reasons---)

My husband doesn't need to make lists to get the 550 million things he does every day accomplished. So it looks like that's more of an inherited trait than a bragging right. (HE has never tried to make me feel inferior for something as utilitarian as making a list. He is a bit more enlightened than that, thank God.)

The thing is, it's like study habits. Or when a person prefers to be alone with their thoughts, etc. Everyone's needs are different. Everyone's cognitive processes are slightly different. It doesn't mean one person's way is better than another.

Like most everyone else, I have found them indispensible. I go the the store and out to do errands with great confidence. It helps me stick to a budget. And I love the satisfaction of crossing things off the list when they've been done. Indeed, a few years ago, I could not get through the day without a list.

And memory coaches instruct people to utilize lists. It can actually help reinforce memory patterns.

And if it helps you get things done, I'm all for it.