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For me, lists work great... as long as they don't turn into obligations. I keep a legal pad on my desk. I keep a running list of anything I want to learn, acco
by ydlr 3y ago
For me, lists work great... as long as they don't turn into obligations.
I keep a legal pad on my desk. I keep a running list of anything I want to learn, accomplish, research, etc. If I finish an item, I mark through it. Once I turn a page, I rarely revisit. If something is important, it'll make a second or third appearance on the list and eventually get scratched off. Once I fill up a pad, I throw it away and start fresh.
Treating lists, and really, nearly all my personal notes, as disposable is incredibly freeing.
- dottjt 3y agoThe thing is, what if you're learning something particularly complex? How do you go about documenting what you need to do, because a simple list like that wouldn't seem to suffice? Maybe my issue is how I go about documentation, as opposed to lists. It might also just be that I don't know how to make a list not end up being an obligation. Aren't they obligations by definition, a thing you need to do?
- ydlr 3y agoFor me, the act of writing something down helps with memory and comprehension. Reviewing something I wrote down a week ago does not. If I forget it, I look it up and write it down again. Eventually it sticks. Or it doesn't.
- dinkleberg 3y agoCreate a new checklist every day. I just use a pad of paper on my desk and list the ~3-5 things I want to get done on that given day. If I have next steps for upcoming days, I'll make note of that so I have it recorded. But every day I'll decide what I'm going to tackle, that way there is no obligation from the past lists. I will refer back to them to see what I wanted my current self to do. I might not agree with my past self on what is important.