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Episode 16: Lists or Not – How Do We and Those We Love Keep Organized?
What is the role of lists in our lives? How do we each make lists, or not? Is list-making essential to organization or are there other ways to plan and keep intentional about things? How are our personalities and learning styles and those of our children reflected in the way we each make sense of information and understanding ideas in our lives? Is there a societal bias toward certain styles of organization and even organization itself? And could list-making be deeper and more creative than imagined? Please join us as we dive into a topic that seems practical at first glance but took us into some interesting discussion.
We Discuss:
Kinds of lists – Joy, Adventure, Project
What is the relationship between the way we organize information and what helps us individually? What overwhelms us?
How do we organize information if we don’t use lists?
Prioritizing responsibilities to other people over our own things
Hands-on lists and mental lists versus written lists
“Stacking lists”
The role of personality in the way we plan and keep track of things. What is our tolerance for change or a need to pivot?
The link between list-making and how we individually process things – internal versus external and somewhere in between
Verbal processing versus written lists
The way that lists can help in an unschooling life to see new ideas as invitations
That lists aren’t necessarily “to do” lists, but can also be a sort of menu
Our children seeing their input as respected when it’s written down
Family culture – the very different ways that each family and family member processes things
The danger of lists? Too much planning, not enough action?
Planning in unschooling? Sometimes there’s actually more organizational skill involved!
Self-directed learning as a process that makes use many planning tools
How a loosely held list can be a sort of “living document”
“Planning for personalities” in our families
Societal biases toward certain styles of planning
Planning and lists for self-care
List-making as a recipe for disappointment depending on how we see it. How do we remain forward-thinking and plan for our kids and also let go of the outcome?
Could a list be seen as brainstorming?
Lists as ways to be helpful and pass on information to other people
“Not to do” lists as an idea!
Resources:
Joy Lists: A Home Education Essential – Taking a Kinder Path
The Four Tendencies Gretchen Rubin
How Do Unschoolers Plan and Record Learning? Happiness is Here