Confession: I have been forgetting a lot of things lately.

Like returning a phone call.

Changing the MLS status on a property that sold.

Two weeks ago, I’m not kidding, I totally forgot to go look at a house someone wanted me to list. I had it on my calendar and I’d thought about it earlier in the day. Still, laying in bed that night, I awoke with a start, suddenly realizing that I didn’t go.

It’s tempting to chalk it up to old age, and maybe that’s part of it, but the truth is I’ve strayed from a process that served me well for many, many years.

For the longest time, I ran my life with a notebook. Nothing fancy, just a spiral bound notebook like the ones you had in high school. Inside the notebook was a “perpetual to-do list.” Every morning I’d look at it to see what I needed to accomplish that day and, as each task was completed, I’d cross it out.

New tasks were added as they came up.

At the end of the day, I’d tear the page out and start a new list by scanning the old one to see what remained and what had been added. In doing so I could prioritize the list according to the most urgent tasks and have a fresh list ready for the next day.

That meant when I got to the office in the morning there was no time wasted figuring out what I needed to do. Just look at the list, see what the first thing is, and do it.

Bam!

It’s a simple and nearly foolproof system but, at some point, I just stopped doing it.

I don’t exactly know when, and I don’t know why.

It just happened.

But, today is the day. I’m breaking that notebook back out.

There’s a lot left to do before I die, and I’ll never accomplish all of it if I keep forgetting what it is that I’m supposed to be doing.