Ideally, you should create and finalize your list before you start dating. After that time, it is risky to change those decisions - whether based on your own decisions or on others' opinions.
However, you may have already started dating. You may have even dated seriously. Does that mean that you can no longer make up a list?
Of course not. Make up a list now. Although you have lost the best time for making a list, it would be better than not preparing a list at all. You do want to have the guidance of a list. You want to know where you are headed.
It will do little good to make up a list while you are dating. That list would reflect a great deal of the pros and cons of your current date. For that reason, the longer the period of time that you wait between dating and preparing the list, the more effective it will be.
Of course, this situation is not always practical. Many people do not want to waste time before getting on with their lives. They have a good point.
Your list will be influenced by the characteristics and issues of your previous dates - and the more you have dated in the past, the more you will be influenced by those people. If you make up a list after dating extensively, then it will not be completely objective.
However, your previous dates can be of some benefit. You can gain from them when preparing a list. Since you are your date have chosen to separate, you may be able to learn what you do not want.
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