I have always loved lists.

From a young age I was a lists person but I don’t recall where that came from? I guess I must have seen my parents making lists at some point and thought that was the way forward.

As a teenager my lists took the form of post it notes stuck all over my desk:

• Finish homework
• Ring Chrissie (my best friend)
• Paint nails
• Shave legs
• Do sit ups

If my dad was feeling like teasing me he would sneak into my room and add two post it notes to my desk which read:

• breath in
• breath out

Yes … what a comedian!

Since becoming a parent lists have continued to play a vital role in my life. I have a chalkboard in the kitchen with a list of things the children need for school everyday plus any reminders I need to give myself about shopping we need and so on.

Then I have daily lists, handwritten and on my phone of things I need to do everyday or remember. When I write a report now for work or an article I will use bullet lists as I think they make it easier for the reader and when I was at school and then university that is how I revised. I could never remember anything from reading a long passage so I made lots of lists and maps.

I have recently come across an app called Bullet News which is available both in the App Store and Google Play – this fits right into my obsession with lists and bullet points. It is an app designed to keep you up to date with news and current affairs but in bullet points you can access any time you have a few seconds from your smartphone.

When I was at university I was always up to date with everything that was going on in the world. This was especially true when I did my Masters as I was studying International Relations and had to keep my finger on the pulse. It was the September of 9/11 so international news was pretty major.

Since having the children I know that I am more out of touch. Not through lack of interest, just time. I frequently get asked “did you hear about..?” – most of the time I haven’t.

An app like Bullet News is perfect and it makes me feel much more connected to what is going on. You can choose what interests you the most and just look at those things. You can skim through headlines easily and then select the stories you want to read more of.

Have a few minutes spare on the school yard?

Waiting for children to get changed after swimming lessons?

Have a few quiet minutes before you go to sleep?

This is so easy to use, easy to fit into your life and means you can still join in with all the grown-up debate about news and current affairs, as well as teaching your children about what is going on in the world.

How do you keep yourself up to date?