I am a list guy. People are often amazed about my ability to remember things. Honestly, God did truly bless me with a powerful memory. As I am getting older I find that the memories are fading or getting combined with similar experiences. One way that I fight my loss of memory is keeping lists. Personally, I do not use anything electronic for most of my lists. I hand write a great number of things because I believe that also helps me to remember.

I have all kinds of list. I have a “to buy” list of item. Living in Alaska I do not get to the story very often so I write down what I need. I have a “wish list” of items I do not need but hope to purchase one day. I have a “to do” list. This comes in two forms. One is a list of things I need to do right away (within a week) and other is a list of things I need to do in the next 6 months to a year. I have a list entitled “At home” and it is filled with jobs I need to do at home or repairs that are in the near future.

Then there are other lists that make me more productive. I have a list of ideas for future blog posts. Currently I have over a dozen ideas that are in development. I also keep a list of the sermons that I listen too. I write down key ideas, illustrations and any useful thoughts. I also do something similar with the books I read. These two lists I keep on the computer in a Word file for easy reference. Finally, it is not exactly a list but I type in ideas and experiences into illustration files. Many times these start as a few lines hand written in a notebook and then they are typed out in extended form in my computer.

Why do I tell you all this? Simply because this is my key to productivity. This is how I write sermons, Sunday School lessons, blog posts, teach class at a Bible Institute and lead a couple of organizations all while raising 4 sons. I try to never let anything slip from my memory. I do not trust that my brain can remember everything by itself, so I help it out by keeping list after list. Then I take those lists and put them into a notebook and I am always ready for the next project.

A simple idea but I promise you that it works.