I must confess that I seem to live my life under the tyranny of lists and I suspect I am not alone: lists of things to pack for those few days away with the family, lists of things I really must mention when I next call to my mother. But without a doubt the most terrorising of all is the ‘to do’ list which has somehow infiltrated my life to become a ritual with which I begin most days.
And it is not entirely without purpose: somehow setting out on paper my objectives for the day helps me plan effectively and ensure that I don’t overlook important tasks. It enables me to prioritize, starting with those tasks that would be rather unforgiving if left undone. But somehow it also provides a sense of momentum and achievement throughout the day as I see tasks progressively ticked off or marked as ‘done’. But there is no denying that some days are unexpectedly hijacked by events beyond my control or slip by unnoticed before I have had an opportunity to engage with them productively. Those days can seem in danger of drawing to a close without a single task truly deserving of being ticked off. Worse still, new tasks may even have been added during the course of the day threatening to precipitate a crisis. I have, of course, learned cunning ways to mitigate such impending disasters: while compiling my list I have, on occasions, sneaked in one or two tasks that I had already completed to provide a much-needed head start to the day!
Preparing lists is, of course, no different from many of the rituals we perform, fulfilling an essential function when we first develop them, perhaps by helping us feel in control during periods of instability in our lives. And yet, over time, they may become progressively less fit for purpose, so much so that we may no longer recall what they were originally intended to achieve. Rituals are by their very nature faithful servants, but they can rapidly become overbearing masters that can be very difficult to placate. So how might we spot when they are no longer serving us well? Perhaps when our priority becomes completing the ritual itself rather than focusing on the issue it was intended to solve, it may be time to re-evaluate whether we have inadvertently become slaves of our own rituals…
So, now that I have finally finished this blog, what’s next on my list for today?