There are many tools and techniques available for organization and even time management, but none are as simple and effective as the list.  All you need is a piece of paper and a writing implement and you can dump all of the information swimming around in your brain in an organized and efficient manner.  Lists can be made over a period of time or can be jotted on the fly.  They can be as brief and simple or as long and detailed as you need them to be, but either way, the benefits to creating and using a list are many.

• Creating a list can be a great brainstorming activity.  A person may go from not having any clear ideas on a topic to a list full of possibilities.
• Many people are visual and seeing the information presented in list form is a way of committing it to memory.  For example, a grocery list allows a person to not only consider what ingredients are needed but also the freedom of not having to store all of those items in their memories.  However, once a visual person sees the list of ingredients, they are much more likely to remember what is included on the list.
• Your information is centralized.  Lists bring the important details together to one handy location.  A monthly menu plan list brings together the titles of recipes spread throughout your kitchen storage (and even computer) and places them on a single page for easy reference.

• A list makes a terrific record. Not only can a list prepare you for what lies ahead, but remains long after an event as a kind of testament that can be used again or repeated as often as necessary. A good Packing List should be saved and pulled back out for future reference on future trips.
• Lists are extremely portable. A piece of paper can be clipped to a clipboard and toted around the home or office. It can be hung on the refrigerator or message board and displayed for others to enjoy and use. It even folds nicely and can fit into a back pocket or purse.

This list was recently published as a guest post on D. Allison Lee’s blog as The Value of a Good List

Each weekday in February, ListPlanIt.com is focusing on aspects of the many areas of our lives. Each weekday will feature one of ListPlanIt‘s organizational/planning products and will be offering visitors and loyal readers alike lots of opportunities to win! Stop by each day to enter and to check out who has won the giveaway from the day before – it may be you!

The first giveaway of this week: a Download Membership to ListPlanIt. Not only view your favorite pages, but you’ll have the ability to type right into each page and then store on your computer.  Those pages become yours to access whenever you would like.

Here are a list of the ways to enter each giveaway, each day.

• leave a comment on this post,
• tell your friends & followers about today’s giveaway on Facebook or Twitter (so easy to do when you use the Share This button at the bottom of this post) and leave a comment here linking to your profile,
• subscribe to ListPlanIt’s RSS feed using a reader or by email and leave a comment here,
• blog about this giveaway and then leave a comment here linking to your post.

One of each of these per day please. Come back tomorrow to see who won and to see what else we are giving away.