What Comes First: The List or the Plan?

As you can imagine, when this question popped into my head, I broke into a cold sweat and had to retreat to a quiet, dark room to gather myself.

I love to plan, and I love making lists. But which comes first and which is more important?

I’m going to have to give this question more thought. In my mind, it’s akin to asking if your to-do list or calendar is more important. Gah! In many ways, planning and list-making are so interwoven that they are impossible to tease apart.

That said, essentially, you can have it either way:

• Sometimes, you make a plan and then break it down into a list of tasks.
• Sometimes, you make a list of jobs and then plan how to move through them.

But—and this is the kicker—sometimes it is better to start with one than the other. The trick is knowing which approach is correct for the situation.

Creighton Broadhurst is the Publisher of Useful Items at Raging Swan Press. He lives on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity. He is not planning to voyage far.