Getting Listed - Karen Bush

Tidy desk. Just to show it does sometimes happen.

If you, as I do, live your life by lists - things to do today, this week, this month... ornamented with highlighted bits, thick lines, multiple underlinings, stars and other hopefully eye and attention-catching devices to indicate urgent, really urgent and THIS MUST BE DONE NOW!!!!!! then you will know just how satisfying it is each time you can cross something off. A list gives you proof that you have achieved something ... often I even create lists for the book I am currently writing, so I can feel (especially in the early stages) that I am getting somewhere with it. If I have a deadline to meet, it also gives me a realistic grasp of how much work I still have to get done, and I can work out a sensible timetable to enable me to meet that deadline.

Deadlines. Quite important. Although not
as important as whippet mealtimes.

The problem with my lists is that they are on paper. Not a problem with the stuff that involves the usual daily grind - dropping off Mum's prescription, collecting shopping, that sort of thing. But not so good when it's book stuff as the piles of paper tend to get shuffled together, out of order and - horrors! - sometimes mislaid entirely. (No, I do not keep an orderly desk. It only gets decluttered when I've finished a project. Yes, I could perhaps keep it tidier but I have more interesting things to do than housework.)

     But no longer! I have discovered the joy of Sticky Notes - a kind of computer version of Post It notes. I have no idea whether the new Windows software still includes them - I'm still avoiding it - but my current one has it and it's a boon. No more mislaid bits of paper - everything is there, stuck on my opening screen, with different colours depending on what it relates to - books I'm planning to write, notes on them, solo projects or co-authored ...

There are probably bits of techno-geekery that do something similar only better, and which I don't know about. But I don't care - this is simple, and easy even for stupid people like me to master. If you haven't yet discovered it for yourself (and I realise that I am probably teaching most of you to suck eggs, but there might possibly be one or two of you out there that don't know about it), simply click on the Windows start icon, which will produce a menu of things - if you can't see Sticky Notes on it then click on 'All Programmes' and scroll through for it.

No, it's not your eyes. Yes, it is intentionally blurry.
Don't want anyone nicking my ideas ...

Click on it.

And away you go.

Use your mouse to make the notes bigger or smaller. Clicking on the + in the top left corner will produce another screen post-it. Clicking on the x in the opposite corner will delete it. Right click on the post-it and you can change its colour. See? Simples.

Although if you don't have Windows, very sorry but I can't help you. Other than to suggest that you buy some more paper and a new pen ...