From the time we are toddlers, we are taught about numbers. We begin to look at numbers with a level of fascination and get accolades when we are finally able to count to 100! When I was five, my kindergarten teacher gave us these blue ribbons which said "I counted to 100!" I loved that ribbon.
I believe it is because of that early training that many people like lists. And furthermore, they like numbered lists. I will tell you right now, I don't. I am not a list person. Do I write things down? I sure do, but there is a difference between listing things 1,2,3 and having randomly patterned lists. If I have anything that remotely resembles a list, it looks more like a jumble to others, as there are things written on the side, in between, over and under. In fact most people would not see it as a list, but as a random placement of words, which have no relationship. But it works for me.
When you Google the word "list" you get 875,000,000 hits. So obviously I am in the minority. I think most people love lists, because it can bring some order to chaos. If you have a list, well you may be able to focus, to check things off as done, to remember things and to provide clarity to others. It may also help some folk in time management. Although I think that perhaps instead of having a To-Do List, maybe a Not-To-Do List should be given equal air-time.
People also like to be on lists. The top 100 Most Powerful; The Fortune 100; the Top 50 Best Managed Companies; The Best-Dressed List; The Most Sexiest List; The Top 25 Sports Plays of All Time; Your Bucket List. And the list goes on (yes that pun was intended). Lists make us feel important. And not being on a list, well, that's when you say the list was bogus, because you should have been on the list. And then you campaign to try to get on that list next year. And when you are on it, then it isn't bogus anymore! I've been on some lists, and I won't deny that it did make me feel special!
If I ever number anything, it is usually in a business setting, on a Gantt chart or some such, where the process must happen sequentially. Not from 1 to 5, but the sequential aspect can be the difference between success and failure. But that tends to be the only time I will use a list.
So yes, I am list-averse. And I am not suggesting that people who make lists are bad -- I mean 875M hits can't be wrong. And yes, I have a pretty good memory, but instead of lists, I tend to have Post-its placed randomly across my desk. Think of desk level Brownian motion.
My mind isn't linear, nor sequential. I love ambiguity and chaos. I also like streamlining same, but when it hits that sequential, linear parameter, I need to move on.
When people look at lists they will often see #1 as the priority and then move down from there. But what if #1 isn't the priority? When you made the list, was it just a brain dump, and by numbering the "to-dos" have you made something a priority, that shouldn't have been? Or have priorities shifted and you are still abiding by the old list? By putting something on a list, have you denied the complexity of an issue, because, well, you can't have a lot of verbiage around a list?
So, although I get why people like to make lists, I will continue my life as someone who is list-averse, embracing the ambiguity and working with the surprise of what Post-It note I will happen onto next!
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