Everyone has their own way to be effective and productive, my opinion follows. TODO-lists are useful when using them for what they are good for: 1. mini-plann

Everyone has their own way to be effective and productive, my opinion follows. TODO-lists are useful when using them for what they are good for: 1. mini-planning the upcoming work, 2. tracking what you've done (the ticked boxes), and 3. tracking what needs to be done to complete the main task (the unticked boxes). Putting this information into the calendar? No, totally wrong place. Using some app? Clumsy and annoying and easy to get distracted... but sure, if it works for you. I'd say just use a text file with whatever format is OK for you. Or pen + paper. I have TODO-lists with tasks with a time-span of a few weeks to many-a-day subtasks that I plan ahead of time so I know what to do next. In my opinion, that's the important part: knowing what to do next. If you don't know what to do next, you have to stop to figure this out. Hence the TODO-lists. Besides, for me, this switching of mode from executing to planning/analyzing breaks the flow of the task I was doing. I have to go into another kind of mind-state. So I try to plan ahead and then just execute, it's easier and more fun to just keep the flow going for a longer time. Usually my subtask planning for things I'm familiar with is more tactical and I just throw it in as I go (I'm used to this now), but for unfamiliar things I have to stop and analyze things up front. Of course situations change and then I just go back and modify the tasks and plans. But at some point, a clear path forward emerges. Then I take it.