Lists season: It’s the most wonderful time of the year...

Many things characterise this odd time of year, such as family feuds, forgetting what day it is, or glaring at the seven toffee pennies left in the tin, but my favourite is – it’s the time of year when people make lists. I started thinking about this before Christmas, when my list-making activity really starts to build, and, as I think ahead to December 31, I know my affection for making lists will reach a crescendo of typing, scribbling and grinning.

I love lists.

I love special notepads for making them, noticeboards for displaying them prominently, and formats, both physical and electronic, to enhance them. I love using Roman numerals for sub-lists and asterisks to make parts of lists stand out more. I appreciate highlighter pens.

I like bullet points, especially when varying the types of bullet points in electronic documents. I have built specialised bullet points for media outlets using design software, even though it was somebody else’s job and they were grumpy about me doing it.

One highlight was colour-coded bullet points, with themed graphics, for different sections of a newspaper. So satisfying.

Even better is tailoring the content of lists. I have one for the day, the week ahead, and the longer term.

I have lists for work, home, family life, social activities and more. Items appear across multiple lists and the hierarchy of list-making is a relevant factor.

My notebook filled with comic books I want to buy, all detailed in tiny longhand, is a source of joy to me but would melt the minds of well-adjusted humans.

Now we’re making lists for 2019, pledging to lose weight, save money, stop smoking, or whatever. This both celebrates the craft of list-making and shows the reason behind it – to get stuff done.

So here’s my list of points for effective listing:

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Even better is tailoring the content of lists