in praise of whiteboards

Posted on February 18, 2024

I first used a whiteboard regularly when I worked from home for five months at the start of the pandemic. When I returned to office life, I used whiteboards even more, externalizing my to-do lists so I could make progress on items without losing track of them. That way, to-do list items aren’t hanging out in my brain causing disruptions, or straining my shoulders and neck via the imaginary backpack of productivity anxiety I sometimes tote around, or creating an unmanageable inbox in my email (that somehow weighs down that backpack), or disappearing in a project management or task management app that I could end up ignoring.

Don’t get me wrong. I still fall behind, lose track of things, make mistakes, need a person to do a friendly “circle back” to spur me to action. But I think my colleagues would agree when I say that, for the incredibly large volume of work on my desk, those moments are minimal. For the most part, I get my stuff done, I do it well, I do it on time.

And, mostly, I have sanity as I do my work. That’s not easy. Let’s be honest. I heard some podcast awhile back saying that people laugh less starting the time they enter a full time work week. Work just doesn’t inspire laughter.

Except my workplace does. Every team I’m part of spends time laughing. I’m super grateful I get to work in these kinds of environments. Holy cow, I’m grateful.

Funny (!), but that thing about laughter was a kind of side note I didn’t see coming. My point was that my work can be overwhelming, but my whiteboard helps keep my work in order and manageable. The laughter is an additional (and more vital) thing that helps with sanity.

***

I bought a whiteboard for my home in August 2021. A week prior, I had blogged about being “out of sorts.” I had to reread the blog to remember what was going on. It turns out I hadn’t yet put away the suitcase from my trip to New England for my mom’s funeral and my son’s high school graduation party. And I noted these points about huge moments of life transitions in an almost side note, not the main text.

Holy cow, Past Laurie. Of course you were out of sorts. And I (or “we”…both Past Laurie and Current Laurie, hahaha) had been living in my (our) home for only two months at the time. Holy transitions, Batman.

I remember that I cleaned up my bedroom soon after writing that blog post, and a week later, I ordered my whiteboard. I was getting myself sorted.

***

GUESS. WHAT. I’m getting myself sorted again!

This time, it’s because I just put a heck of a lot of energy into completing a book manuscript that I’m super proud of (on my good days; I have bad moments of intense self-criticism and doubt, too, but I don’t think those voices in my head are helpful except in motivating me to be careful to do a good job when I’m going through proofs and stuff).

I’m really energized to get myself sorted because I had been putting off a lot of things intentionally, knowing I have a limited amount of resources, and deciding my life would be a little off-balance while completing a goal that was important to me.

I submitted the book manuscript on Thursday afternoon. It is now Sunday morning. In that time, I have:

• bought a car (!)
• booked and gone to an eye doctor appointment (with a new eye doctor, no less)
• made a dentist appointment with a new dentist
• completed paperwork with my prior dentist to allow my dental records to be shared with my new dentist (I hate this kind of paperwork for some reason, so I’m super proud of myself for not procrastinating on it)
• done a tiny bit of catching up on my email inbox from my Wednesday-Friday days off
• done some journaling about my personal life and priorities, my wants and needs
• bought groceries, changed sheets, did two loads of laundry (well, neither load is folded yet, so I guess I can say I started two loads of laundry…)
• finished an excellent audio book (Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes)
• visited my community library for a library card and information about a couple book groups I’m interested in checking out (first one on Tuesday evening!)
• taken myself out for dinner and a fun adult beverage at the local pub
• gone out for dinner and catching up with one of my new Bumble BFF friends
• made plans for Music Bingo at a local brewery and Country Line Dancing Class at a local country club
• created (and started) a plan for 15-minute morning workouts with freeweights (inspired by conversations with my health-conscious son)
• eaten lots of healthy food
• relaxed
• talked on the phone, texted, scanned social media

***

AND I used my whiteboard to think about how I want my life to be. My whiteboard had been filled with book manuscript-related goals, dates, checklists, and to-do items. I erased it all. I had a tabula rasa as I headed into my weekend, a blank slate, a life I get to make decisions about.

Yes, I know I’m super incredibly lucky that I have that kind of life, one in which I can choose what to do with swaths of my time. Some things I don’t choose, and all I can say is that sometimes I try to choose how I do the things I need to do. And sometimes I just go through life blindly, but that’s not really the preferred way.

It’s a whiteboard. Nothing is written in permanent ink. I might change my goals, they might develop into new goals, I might end up getting myself sorted in a different way.

But, in the meantime, I’ve written some stuff down, externalized what’s in my head and my heart, been intentional about my priorities, and set my goals in a place where I will see them both morning and evening, as I begin and end each day.