> 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,

> 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.