Why making a bucket list is really just putting things off

Ouch. Reading that would’ve hurt.

We have all grown up making, filling, editing and keeping bucket lists — of travel, food, people, serious goals and crazy yahoos and are still doing it. But is a bucket list really worth what it advocates for? Or rather what we have it advocating?

Lists are great. Reminders are great. There’s no harm in putting down your to-do’s. They help us reach and recap what we must get done in a span of time. And that’s what a ‘list’ essentially is.

ACTION REQUIRED + STIPULATED TIME = TASK DONE

Here’s the thing with lists:

· They are short or middle-term oriented

· They incorporate related or unrelated tasks

· They come with the “must be ticked” factor

That is why lists work so well. We know what we have to do and by when. We can throw in all different kinds of undertakings e.g. get car tyres checked, buy secret beauty product, email boss (maybe this should make it top of the list).

We run them again and again. We get them checked (or crossed). And we move on. They are action-oriented, results-driven, and regular. The irregularity comes with bucket lists. Here’s why.

1. You have one. You need another one

First of all, to be really organized you can only have one kind of bucket list on one paper. It’s either all travel or about food or all about taking selfies with different animals. It really doesn’t make sense to have a ridiculous miscellaneous bucket list like: eat famous blueberry minced meat pie in Australia, hug a female orangutan, sleep on the bridge in Berlin.

Which means: that’s a lot of bucket lists to make!

2. Too much puff. Too little cream

Remember this? Action required + stipulated time = completed task

For bucket lists, the “stipulated time” can be now or it can be at some indefinite point. If it is at some indefinite point (which it usually is), there’s no knowing when or even IF that point will ever be done or attempted to be done. It just becomes a fancy list which may never be attempted.

3. Winging-it. Missing key steps to getting things checked off

With short to medium-term lists, you know what the intermediate steps are to getting things checked off. If you have to go to the barber, you know what time you will be free, what route you intend to take, how long it will take etc. With bucket lists, there are no intermediate steps planned. Nothing is planned because you are just going to wing it! For things that need long-term budgeting, travel, planning and distances — you can rarely wing it. And you shouldn’t unless Trump will make America great again. Well, not that it isn’t.

4. Creation more ‘fun’ than output

You have to agree. Creating bucket lists are a lot of fun. You think you can go all-out, toss in whatever you want to see or do before you hit 30 40, before you lose all your teeth. You keep adding what the TV or your arch enemy tells you about they are doing. You decorate bucket lists, admire them. Eventually you keep them on the window sill and they are covered by allergic pollen. Whatever kind that is.

But that’s that. As humans, we pride in taking the first step. Because we think that is everything all the time. Not for bucket lists. For bucket lists, it’s about the second and third step.

5. Unlikely goals. Unlikely to happen.

No I’m not saying don’t think or dream big. But bucket lists come with a blithe attitude. Many times, there’re no second thoughts of putting something down on paper. It sounds cool, we add it. Because it’s a goddamn bucket list and anything is allowed!

But is it something you really want? Is it yours? Is it a feel-good factor for penning it or a list-worthy entry for achieving it?

Bucket lists need a substantial amount of planning. You are going to be going out of your way and most probably spending and traveling to doing something. There are several unknowns here. We forget to measure them and keep adding.

As a result:

UN-CALCULATED RISKS + UNKNOWNS = MISADVENTURE

We need to remember that if we make a bucket list, it should be at least attempted. More often than not, we throw away a bucket list because it sounded fancy then and it doesn’t seem possible now. No one keeps a bucket list that they have never attempted and looks back at it years down the lane. Who wants to look at an unchecked list of items, right? Major ego fail.

Lists are great. Goals are great. But we need to allocate more responsibility on ourselves when we create a bucket list. It’s something we need to attempt, plan and measure to do not and not just admire.

So where do all those really swanky ideas go now? Take it step by step. If you are not actually taking a sabbatical or sold your house and going on a world tour, you need a list that is as planned as panned out.