The to-do list is a fascinating lesson both in human culture and the human brain. Umberto Eco famously proclaimed the list to be the origin of culture itself, and the Ziegarnik effect, which I’ve written about before, details the effect of writing things down on our unconscious minds.

I maintain a to-do list daily, documenting my tasks and goals, carefully trimming and pruning the list to reflect my values, my ambitions, and my priorities. Having the list in front of me is a constant reminder to stay on track- these are the things that I decided were important enough to warrant devoting a block of time to. There’s a certain liberation in putting these tasks on paper- they’re no longer floating in my head, constantly nagging. My mind becomes a bit clearer with every stroke of the pen. The process never fails to bring to mind Benjamin Franklin’s approach to the task list. There seems to be a fundamental problem with my list, however, and until recently, I had no idea what that problem was. As an example, today’s list, is this:

1. Yoga
2. Write a Wonderisms piece
3. Laundry
4. Treehouse lessons
5. Queue Sssimpli article
6. Call T-Mobile (increase roaming data)
7. Weedeat the lawn
8. Read at least 3 Readability articles
9. Read at least 30 pages of Lolita
10. Journal entry

These are specific items I want to accomplish today, but something’s missing- namely, the most important things in my life- the people I love- are not there.

I need to change that. There is nothing more important, more fulfilling, more worthwhile than simply engaging with the people you love. I recently remarked to someone that “if it’s not on my task list, it won’t get done.” That’s becoming increasingly true, unfortunately.

I’m notoriously awful at returning personal phone calls. Horrendous, in fact. I probably don’t tell the people that I love how much they mean to me as often I should. I write letters to my daughter- words of wisdom (I hope) that I’ll let her read when she’s old enough to grasp them. I’ve written three such letters in the past four months. There are many others who would find it a pleasant surprise to receive a letter from me, or even an email. I should certainly call old friends to catch up more often. Yet I don’t do these things often enough, because I don’t include them on my task list. If my brain recognizes the importance of the list, if by way of the Zeigarnik effect my subconscious recognizes the importance of a task by the fact that it’s written down, why do I not include the most vital elements of my well-being- people- in my list of priorities?

Starting today, I will. My list will more fully encompass the things I want to do, and I will, no doubt, be a more thankful person for it. I must be careful, of course, not to let the list dominate my life- there are times when the list must be discarded in favor of the unplanned, the spontaneous. When my daughter wants me to read her a book, I will drop the list. When a friend calls me up for some good conversation over a cup of coffee, the list can wait. When the morning is too gorgeous not to wander aimlessly in it for awhile, I will succumb to its allure. The list is very adaptable, since it’s you who holds the pencil (and the eraser on the other end). Mold it, bend it, shape it to your will, and by no means should you become a slave to it. But the list has many, many advantages, and can be a crucial tool to accomplishing your personal and professional goals. Just make sure it truly represents all of the things you want to accomplish.

I decided not to write a new piece for Wonderisms today. Instead, I focused on making a couple of enhancements to the site. The result is, I believe, an improved experience for my readers, but I’ll let you be the judge of that.

The first thing you’ll notice is there are a few links at the top of my last post, On Context. The first is Readability interaction. Clicking on the link will convert the current post into Readability’s easy-to-read format, from which you can save the post to your Readability queue, send the post directly to your Kindle, and a few other options (all of which require a Readability account). The second link is Instapaper integration. Clicking the link will simply add the current post to your Instapaper reading list (which- you guessed it- requires an Instapaper account.

The third option is to download the post as an .mp3 file. This might seem like an odd feature, so I’ll tell you how it came about. Every Thursday, a very dear friend of mine calls to catch up on the week’s happenings. Occasionally, she has had time throughout the week to read my posts, and we discuss them at some length. If she hasn’t had a chance to read them, I read them to her. On one occasion, she remarked on how much more enjoyable the experience of having the posts read to her was(as opposed to reading them on the site).

So there you go. You can now download posts in .mp3 format, if you so choose.

The other change is a bit all-inclusive. If you click the “subscribe” button at the top of the page, you’ll be redirected to the bottom of my site, where you have three options to subscribe: via RSS, via email, and now via podcast. The podcast is simply an automated feed of all posts containing an afore-mentioned .mp3 file. So, if you do prefer to listen via audio, you can now subscribe in your favorite podcast player and listen on your desktop, on your phone, etc, in your favorite podcast client. Note that I’m waiting on iTunes approval, and how long that process will take is anybody’s guess. The most exciting aspect of the podcast is that it may entice me to experiment with formats more conducive to an audio experience.

Since I must attach the files to each individual post, it may take some time before I get all of the archives into audio format. I haven’t quite decided how to do that yet- perhaps I’ll post one new “From the Archives” bit each week along with the regular, current posts.

Also note that the method I’m using for this format is not exactly standard- it took some creative know-how to get everything up and running, and I may have made a mistake here or there. If you notice one of them, please let me know so I can fix it as promptly as possible.

That’s it. Thanks, everyone, and happy reading.