Last Updated on August 20, 2022 by Keri
Have you ever found yourself completely distracted by all the things swirling around in your head? Making lists is a great way to get yourself organized and focused, or creative! But in case you’re stuck trying to decide what type of list to make, I’ve got you covered!
In this post, I am going to share 35 awesome list ideas with you to help you get your creative juices flowing, plus my simple but effective tips for list-making mastery!
To make this easier, I have broken up the different list ideas into three categories: practical, creative and self-care.
Practical List Ideas
- Grocery lists
- Dinner ideas
- Potluck ideas
- Packing list
- Birthday list
- Weekly chore list
- Important contacts
- Goal action planning
- Spending lists
- 10-minute tasks
Creative List Ideas
- Movies to watch
- Podcasts to listen to
- Books to read
- Gift ideas
- Travel spots
- Favorite quotes
- House renovation ideas
- Dream log
- Seasonal bucket lists
- Wish list
- Horoscopes
- Date night ideas
- Family night ideas
- Activities to try with your kids
- Hobby ideas
Related: 100 Inspirational Quotes To Include In Your Bullet Journal
Self-Care List Ideas
- Perfect day ideas
- Things you are grateful for
- Personal development learning
- Things that make you happy
- What’s working in your life, and what’s not
- Things that inspire you
- Decluttering list
- Ideas for a bad day
- Fitness routine ideas
- Journal prompts
Each of these list ideas could be modified in so many ways!
For example, if you wanted to create a list of movies you want to watch, you could break it up even further. You could create lists for different categories or lists based on who you want to watch them with
Each of these lists will give you a great starting point, but don’t be afraid to go beyond just these ideas! Try to brainstorm some ways that you could individualize these lists to work even better for you.
How Can Lists Help You?
Lists can be a lot of fun to create, but they can also be extremely helpful.
Lists can help you:
- Get things out of your head.
Have you ever been working on something, yet you find yourself so distracted by all the things in your mind?
It can be really hard to focus on the task at hand when our minds are consumed by other things. Creating these lists will give you a place to get that information out of your head so that it can be processed later.
- Find references later.
When you write things down, it is easy to go back and reference stuff at a later time. This makes it a lot easier for your mind to forget things for the time being.
- Get inspiration and ideas.
Looking back at your lists can give you ideas and inspiration for so many things. What book you want to read next. Different restaurants you wanted to try out. What project you wanted to start.
- Dream about the future.
It is so fun to think of where we want to be in the future, and different lists can help you get it from mind to paper.
- Be creative.
Some lists might be practical, whereas other lists might simply get your creative juices flowing!
If you want to learn more about the benefits of list-making, check out this blog post from The List Producer. They share the top 5 health benefits you will see from list-making.
Where Should You Keep Your Lists?
I like to keep my lists in once place so that I can reference them at any time, but where you decide to keep your lists is completely up to you! Here are some ideas:
- Your planner – most planners come with a series of blank pages scattered throughout. Lists can be a great way to fill up those pages!
- A Bullet Journal – adding lists in with your layouts and collections can give you an extra element of organization.
- A notebook – head over to the dollar store and grab yourself a pretty little notebook. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Just somewhere you can write all of your ideas down.
- Your phone – most of us keep our phones on us at all times, which is why this is the perfect tool to keep track of your lists and ideas! Get a notes app and start writing!
- The fridge – Get yourself something for your fridge that can be written on and start listing out those ideas! This could be really great for keeping lists that you think of while you are cooking or doing housework. Sometimes, you might find that you just don’t have a notebook handy!
- Your bathroom mirror – Location, location! And the bathroom mirror would be a good spot for your self-care or affirmations.
You might even find that a combination of places works best for you, especially depending on what type of list you are creating.
Often when I am out and about and I have ideas, I will write them down on my phone. This allows me to continue focusing on the task at hand without completely losing my train of thought. Then, once I am home, I will transfer that list into my Bullet Journal.
Wherever you decide to keep your lists, keep them close to that you can always be organized and inspired!
Have you ever heard of the Bullet Journal? It is my favorite planning solution since you can customize it to suit your needs. Learn more about it here!
Keep It Simple!
One of the reasons I personally love lists so much is because of how simple they are. You don’t need any fancy supplies. You can be a little bit messy, disorganized, and scattered, but you will still get all the same awesome benefits from it.
Lists are a really great tool to help keep you productive and creative, so don’t over complicate them.
Keep them fun and light, I am certain you will love lists almost as much as I do!
Do you have any other fun list ideas? Share them in the comments below!
