I felt kind of silly. If anyone had seen me doing it, they probably would have thought that I was very silly.

But there I sat last night, reading one of Arnold Lobel’s “Frog and Toad” books and gaining new insight into improving my organizational skills.

Ostensibly, I was reading to my grandson but, at eighteen months, Daniel doesn’t have much of an attention span – unless he is fixated on his need to eat NOW!

So, I had read maybe one sentence when Daniel wandered off to play with his toys. But I, having a much greater attention span, continued to read the story aloud.

It seems that Toad decided to make a list. On this list, he wrote all the things he intended to do that day. The first thing he put on the list was to wake up. Since he had to have awakened in order to make his list, he was able to mark “Wake up” through and could bound out of bed with a sense of accomplishment. He was already ahead of the game.

One of the things that Toad had put on his list was to take a walk with his friend, Frog. But as they were walking, a gust of wind tore Toad’s list out of his hands and blew it away. Frog was gung-ho for chasing down the list, but Toad was paralyzed because chasing after the list was not on his list. He just sat there while his friend chased after the list.

Frog was unable to catch up with the list and returned to apologize to his friend. They sat together doing nothing because they no longer had the list to tell them what to do.

Finally, Frog pointed out that it was getting late and that they should go to sleep. That’s when Toad had his Eureka! moment. He remembered that the last thing he had written on his list was to go to sleep. So they did.

Here is what I learned:

Making a list of things you want to do can help you get organized.

Start out with something easy, so you have a sense of accomplishment.

Work your way through the items on your list one by one.

But don’t become such a slave to your list that you can’t do anything else should the need arise or can’t function without your list.

When you come to the end of your list, stop working. Get some well-deserved rest.

Oh, yes. And one other thing: it helps to have a friend to give you a nudge when you get stuck. So don’t neglect your friends.

Author's Bio: 

I am a Baby Boomer who is reinventing herself and an internet entrepreneur focusing on self-help for the Baby Boomer generation. I spent sixteen years serving as pastor in United Methodist congregations all over Kansas. Those congregations were made up primarily of Baby Boomer or older members, so I developed some expertise with the Baby Boomer generation. I am now on leave of absence and living in Atchison, Ks. with my almost-thirty year old son and two cats. I also help my daughter, also living in Atchison, with three sons, ages 8, 6, and 18 mos, while their father is in Afghanistan. My website is found at http://www.for-boomers.com