Filed under: Current events,Notes from left field
Posted by: Georgia
I could not live without lists. I make and keep them for all sorts of purposes: to-do lists, lists of items to take along on my travels (I keep three, separated by category), lists of talking points for presentations, fun lists, the occasional top [insert number] list.
Umberto Eco, himself an inveterate list-maker, recently described lists as “a way of escaping thoughts about death”. Practitioners of GTD, even half-baked ones like myself, know that list-making is also a way of escaping thought. Or, more accurately, having to think—having to hold the contents of the list in your head, a receptacle not optimised, in most cases, for holding lists of items (unless the list in question is a mental list, which is another matter altogether).
Lists are a key ingredient in any kind of planning, of course, and I was struck by two lists I came across today relating to the Haiti earthquake relief efforts.
The first comes off Bob Corbett’s Haiti mailing list, an e-mail list for Haiti-watchers I’ve been lurking on for years, and which has proven an invaluable source of information over the past couple of days. It was posted by Alan Woolwich, a community planner in Florida:
On acting locally in country. Get word to all local mayors and community leaders/orgs that you know, via internet, cell phone, twitter, AM/FM/TV (Satellite TV) radio stations in country and those powerful enough to broadcast in, ask them, the mayors and local leaders to get a few key people together, focus and start making specific written lists of what their damages are, rescue and medical needs, equipment and additional communication/equipment needs. This will help the mayors/leaders stay focused when they are contacted directly in person or by radio/phone by responders. They need to be collected and ready. There needs to be a central, controlled and accurate response from each small community who may not get outside help for awhile. Also have them list what resources they may have, no matter how small, available to help others outside their immediate community if and when possible.
The second is a list on a far more ambitious scale, the needs assessment posted by Partners In Health at their new Stand With Haiti web site. The first thee items on it are:
1. Reopen the airport
2. Repair cell phone communication systems
3. Clear main roads from debris
Big, hard-to-do things. But still a list, and a place to start.
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I usually do list for the same reasons as not to forget thought,planning a head for a trip to the store another country etc. but lists such as these have never crossed my mind, i usually stray away from any new date book diary important contact numbers, just filling the what i deem necessary name and contact number. in case my diary is lost, someone can return it. as always informative.
Comment by michol 01.14.10 @ 11:11 pmpleasen i wnat to know if my family ok at Haiti there name is Marie Melanie Regnus, Appredieu Pierre please i hope so
Comment by christina pierre 01.15.10 @ 4:16 pm[...] a list on Twitter, aggregating accounts of people who are posting from Haiti. On her post about “List and the Haiti Earthquake” she mentioned how she can’t live without “LISTS” as they are a way of escaping thoughts [...]
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