I’m not sure how these meetings start out, so I’m going to cut to the chase, my name is Meg and I’m addicted to making lists. Maybe it stemmed from my mom’s obsessive need to keep everything from lists to our lives organized (no worries, ma, that isn’t an insult because you know what they say: I am YOUR twin), or maybe it comes from the frustration of having a terrible memory. How funny is it that I have a terrible memory and I’m a writer? Whatever it is, lists and I go way back, like dinosaur age back.
Don’t try to hide behind that Lilly Pulitzer planner that took forever to pick out, because I know I’m not the only one with this so- called problem. I mean, come on, half of the articles on this site are filled with the top ten reasons why Gossip Girl is “literally my life” or why your sorority is the best (Theta all the way). As college students, we spend these hectic four years trying to make something of ourselves, and amidst the chaos of finding ourselves we experience even more chaos. Whether it’s the Lilly Pulitzer or Kate Spade planners, we girls have lists on lockdown. Even guys have learned to use the Notes app on our phones to keep their lives a little bit organized! Our planners are at our side ready to guide us through our weeks ranging from tests to meetings to coffee dates that will fail epically.
WARNING: this article may or may not hold any importance to you aside from the sheer fact of amusement. In the top left corner there is a home button, I reckon you can use it if you are not a fan of lists, memes, gifs and the absurd use of caps lock. Because this article is about to go all uptown funk on you.
Why Lists are so SPECTACULAR (from the eyes of Meg, Rory Gilmore)
- Lists fill you with the confidence that you are going to achieve more than watching five straight hours of Netflix.
- You can arrive at places ON TIME (I know this is a foreign concept to plenty of people).
- It’s an opportunity to use your favorite gel pens that come in all colors.
- Lists help those with a terrible memory (arrow pointing at me) remember things.
- It makes it seem like you actually have your life under control (perception is key, my friend).
- You won’t accidentally overbook yourself for a coffee date & a study date at the same time.
- Lists keep us from PROCRASTINATING!!! (this is in all caps because it applies to all college students, every single one)
- The joy that comes from completing a task, then checking it off in your colored pen is one of the most gratifying feelings (aside from puppy kisses).
Lists are all the rage, I promise it’s not just me. Walter Isaacson of Time magazine and a famous Benjamin Franklin biographer noted…
"Franklin loved making lists. He made lists of rules for his tradesmen's club, of synonyms for being drunk, of maxims for matrimonial happiness and of reasons to choose an older woman as a mistress. Most famously, as a young man, he made a list of personal virtues that he determined should define his life."
If good ole’ Ben thought that lists were cool then I rest my case.
Maybe this is a cheesy silly article (why am I saying maybe? It definitely is.), but I think the importance of lists had to be shouted to the world of procrastinators that found themselves on this site. Lists will guide us many places in life; if I didn’t have my pal “The List”, the possibility of graduating would have escaped my head a long time ago. And it was a way for me to somehow incorporate Rory Gilmore into one of my articles.