The difference between the list and the listmaker
From conception to realisation the project has taken 18 months. I am compiling the final list of things to do before we go. I am a list maker and this is my 100th list associated with Cerbyd. I have a tried and tested system for my lists. Sections are drawn to divide each project that I have on at any one time. Each project has said amount of jobs ranging from the exciting – call Alison George Formby or the mundane complete and send press release. Each job is highlighted by its urgency.
Yellow for within a month so plenty of time
Green for next week so get going
Pink for ‘Tom, Why are you making a list? You should be doing this now?’
I know I am not alone as a list maker and this brings me considerable comfort but I believe all of us have our individual reasons and systems when making our lists.
I have made so many lists for Cerbyd that it has itself become part of my system. After a decade and more of making lists they have become the foundation and often starting point for anything that I do. They enable me to cross from one project to another with a clear understanding of the different problems and goals required by each.
I have found during this time that my lists have repeatedly become dog-eared. Although in this state they can be more aesthetically pleasing. For example, in 2005 Briaan suggested that I should exhibit my lists. Producing the opposite effect on my list making and has since meant that each completed list has been confined to the endless possibilities of recycling rather than the turgid guff of an art gallery. The fact of the matter is that dog-eared lists are useless to me. So the system took this into account and has dealt with it by refining each list after the first six items are completed and crossed off. Effectively the list lives for six items. The creation of the new list also works as a reward scheme for the completion of the first six items. Six items did not come about randomly either. I calculated that six was my average completion rate for my to-do list in the winter of 2008 and have stuck to it ever since.
And so to the list I am writing now, there are five items down and one left before I would normally start a new. In fact there are over 16 items on this list. Nothing is normal as there are two days till Cerbyd. The time has come to pick up Briaan and head to Newport Road for some last minute camping necessities.
I will not go over the many differences in opinion myself and Briaan had about the size and type of equipment we purchased but it would be fair to say we disagreed more than we agreed. In hindsight, I was right on 90% of the decisions. I am still to take back the large canister of gas that I plumped for but needless to say it is on my list of things to do. The disagreements were forgotten as broad smiles came over our faces as we lumbered increasingly more difficult to carry items across the go out doors car park and packed them into my tiny car. This would turn out to be extremely good practice for the Cerbyd trip.
Fast forward through our unloading and repacking to my back garden. Two men stand over two flaming barbeque grills, the smell of bacon wafting under their nostrils. The sun is out and I am tucking into the bacon sarnie, safe in the knowledge that today has seen 11 things ticked off the Cerbyd list with no need for an upgrade.
