Making Lists

I was reading an online internet marketing ezine today and found something that absolutely smacked up the side of my head. The focus was on getting large tasks done and how that was managed, and this from Mark Twain was quoted:

“The secret to getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.”

What finally clicked is that this is exactly how I was able to be a successful caterer. You see, in the catering business, it doesn’t matter whether you’re cooking for 50 or for 500. The things you have to do to get the food on the table are exactly the same, just on a different scale. You still have to compute the amount of food you’ll need, compute the time you need to prepare it, shop for the ingredients, and then start cooking. And all of this requires detailed lists, with the individual tasks set out.

For example, if I’m making a caeser salad, my task list would look like this:

Make croutons: cube bread, saute bread in butter and seasonings, crisp croutons in oven

Lettuce: wash, dry, tear

Dressing: chop garlic, coddle egg, mash anchovies, combine with the rest of the ingredients, and chill

Grate or shave the parmesan

The thing about all this is that it’s second nature when I’m preparing food (even now when it’s only our own dinner parties I plan), but it hasn’t been an automatic thing for me to do in my internet business. So that’s something I simply have to incorporate in my workday.

Even writing about the process reminds me of how immensely satisfying it is to cross something off a list, marking it as completed. It’s a tangible way to show progress and to have a visual of how your work is going.

So one of my New Year’s resolutions is to start making lists. I’m off to do just that right now.

Oh, and here are a few more thoughts on getting started.

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