What Is a Bucket List? Meaning, Origin, and How It Differs from a Wish List
This article answers "What is a bucket list?" and "Is it different from a wish list?" It briefly explains the meaning and origin, then shows how to start a list by writing for 10 minutes with a timer.
What "bucket list" means and where it comes from
A bucket list is a list of things you want to do before you die. The name comes from the idiom "kick the bucket," which means to die. It became widely known through the 2007 film The Bucket List.
In the film, two men who learn they don't have long to live set off on a trip with a list of things they still want to do. Some people make their bucket list with a goal of 100 items, as in "100 things to do before I die."
Bucket list vs. wish list
In practice, they're the same thing. "Bucket list," "wish list," and "life list" are different names for a list of things you'd like to do, and there's no clear line between them.
The one difference is that "bucket list," because of where the name comes from, suggests "before I die." That's probably why some people feel every item has to be big and get stuck before they write anything.
You can also write down things you can do right away
A trip around the world and shaved ice at a nearby stand can go on the same list.
In fact, you'll keep using a list longer if it includes things you can do soon, like the shaved ice. When you're deciding what to do this weekend, you can pick one of them from the list and put it in your plans.
Start by writing for 10 minutes with a timer
Set a timer for 10 minutes and write things down in the order they come to mind. Sorting and tidying up can wait, and you can stop when you run out of ideas. The full steps are in "How to Make a Bucket List Without Writing 100 Items at Once."
If you want to write but nothing comes to mind, look back through your phone's photo library and the things you saved for later. The article "Where to Find Bucket List Ideas When You Can't Think of Any" explains how.
itsuka is made so that a trip around the world and shaved ice at a nearby stand can go on the same list. If you write them down, you'll see them again when you open the list.
Write down one thing you'd like to do that comes to mind right now.
itsukaWish list & bucket list app
