The Four Lists

LC lamented some time ago that she had two to-do lists: the things she wanted to do and the things that she had to do. Sadly, the nature of life is that the "have to do" list keeps getting ever-longer, and so it's almost impossible to get to the "want to do" list.

Unfortunately, while my own situation is similar, it's not the same: I have four lists to deal with:

• The things I have to do for work. This has the advantage that it's neatly confined within work hours, but by the same token those same hours are not available for anything else.
• The other things I have to do.
• The things I want to do.
• The long-term to do list - things like clearing out the contents of the garage, or moving things into the loft area.

And, as with LC, I'm extremely lucky if I ever get to the bottom of the first two lists, never mind moving onto the others. (Plus, given that many of the things on the long-term to do list are themselves pretty lengthy, even if I had some time it's unlikely to be enough to tackle one of these jobs.)

Which means that the long-term to do list is essentially the "do never" list, which is really frustrating.

#13: "Crackdown", by Bernard Cornwell