The art of list making

The other day I found myself in preparation for a blissful five-day vacation making a list about the types of lists I will need to make myself during my time off.

While most of my lists remain unfinished and half checked most of the time, I continue to religiously jot down not only what needs to be done on a day-to-day basis but also with a different kind of list – a pro/con list.

This article published by the Harvard Business Review detailing the pros and cons of writing a pros/cons hints at using your gut instinct more when it comes to workplace decisions.

This is interesting to consider as I have noticed that as I’m listing advantages or disadvantages, I have already come to a decision, whether it’s moving into a new apartment, changing jobs or considering whether or not I should use my disposable income on taking a spontaneous trip out of the country (it’s pretty much always a yes).

Stemming from this bias we have even before going into list-making overdrive, this article leads to an interesting question – how can we be totally non-biased into labeling something as either a “pro” or a “con”?

And if I may pose a further question – even though there are ample arguments to be made and a pro and con list debating the usefulness of a pro/con list can show that – why do we keep making them?