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Most todos are meant to be recorded and discarded. They are just a psychological mechanism to cope with the anxiety of an overly complex world. The todo-list of
by jasim 11y ago
Most todos are meant to be recorded and discarded. They are just a psychological mechanism to cope with the anxiety of an overly complex world. The todo-list of an average home-maker today would be more complex than that of the princes from a few centuries ago. My todo lists are fluid. I keep them in a big text file, tag them with a date, and keep them there. Once something is recorded, it is off my mind. I'll keep coming back to this file once every while, and realize that most things I recorded are no longer important. There is no one canonical todo list; just an almost immutable archive of lists that I recorded over the years.
The todo-mania is not any different than the bookmarking OCD or the million-open-tabs infestation. There are only so many moments in a lifetime, and just so much you can and should do. The important ones would come back to you, and for the rest, there is always the todo list.
(Of course professional todos are a different matter - they go into a ticketing system and are meant to be done.)
- hacker_9 11y ago> They are just a psychological mechanism to cope with the anxiety of an overly complex world. I'm not sure I agree with you there. Sure the world is complex, but then again so are we. Todo lists allow you to see the bigger picture, as the act of writing down your todo/idea makes you invest time in thinking about it coherently and logically as you convert it to English words on paper. Once you have a list going, you can prioritize it by any means (ease to complete, upcoming events it's needed for etc) and then at least you know that if you were to complete the list in order, then you will achieve your goals/meet deadlines etc. It's that safety of 'knowing' a path through the unknowns in your future that makes writing a list worthwhile.
- jasim 11y agoI wasn't making a value judgement on complexity. That can't be helped. And yes, writing clarifies, and todo lists are a great way of mapping an uncertain future and reducing anxiety.
- lfowles 11y ago> The todo-list of an average home-maker today would be more complex than that of the princes from a few centuries ago. Well yes, they had other people to manage their todos :)