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To Do & Not To Do Lists


We've been working on our >>Boat Project To Do List<< lately. Not actually working on any of the tasks on the list, mind you. More trying to figure out what we need to do vs. what we'd like to do and how much time, money, and aggravation each thing is going to involve.

I've toyed around with various ways of categorizing our To Do Lists in the past. Some of you may be familiar with the following system:

  • Very Boring
  • Extremely Boring
  • Need to Win the Lottery First
  • Avoid at All Costs

You'll notice there aren't any categories for "fun and exciting tasks" or "easy to do tasks" or "costs nothing tasks." That's because this is a boat we're talking about.

This year, I've decided to try a new system out:

  • Keep the Boat Afloat
  • Essential Bodily Needs
  • Stuff that Makes the Boat Go
  • Making Life More Pleasant
  • In Your Dreams
  • Not To Do

The first category is pretty self-explanatory. Ideally, you want your boat to stay on top of the water, not sink to the bottom of the sea. You'll find things like identifying the mysterious leak on our boat and servicing our thru-hulls in this category.

We've all got basic bodily needs and function and that's what the second category is all about. #1 on this list is fixing our marine toilet (or replacing it with a composting head), followed closely by installing a new stove so that we can keep our bellies happy.

A boat is of no use if it can't get anywhere so there's a lot of stuff we need to do to make sure Tickety Boo can go related to the engine, steering system, sails etc.

Then there are the things that make life more pleasant. These aren't essential, but the world would be a happier place if we ticked a few of these off our list. Personally, I'd love to have shelves in the hanging locker in our aft cabin and we really could do with revarnishing a number of things. A watermaker would be awesome too.

There are a number of things we'd love, but unless we win Mega-Billions this week, they're just going to be things that we just dream about.

The final category is my favorite - things Not To Do. This includes things like NOT getting frustrated working on the boat and NOT forgetting to have fun.


Do you use To Do Lists? How do you categorize them? Do you have a Not To Do List?
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