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Point number 4, "I regularly succumb to the pressure of my todo list, and let myself push quick fixes out the door when I feel overwhelmed." isn't necessarily b

Point number 4, "I regularly succumb to the pressure of my todo list, and let myself push quick fixes out the door when I feel overwhelmed." isn't necessarily bad though. While I'm not the biggest fan of todo lists, well planned and well organized lists do actually help me get things done in a clear and focused manner. If a deadline for a project is looming over my head and I have a handy, well planned todo list for said project handy, I am going to be pushing lots of quick fixes that let me cross things off of my list. That being said, perhaps this only works well for me because I do take some time prior to writing/adding to the list and attempt to think before I make a list and as such, things turn out better.

barbs 14y ago
I don't think he was saying that todo lists were bad per se. I think he was saying that he implemented short-term fixes instead of more elegant solutions that would cause less problems in the long run, and that this was a result of the pressure of having lots of things to do, whether in list form or otherwise. I love todo lists as well. Keeps me organised and focussed :)
- nathannecro 14y ago
  I understand, but if things need to get done, fixes need to get pushed out instead of wasting time working on more elegant solutions. Isn't that why one plans and ideates beforehand? If the work appears to be overwhelming, you can at least fall back on an organized list so if you do have to cut some corners, the structure of the project doesn't get damaged too much.
  - barbs 14y ago
    Ah, I see your point. One might argue that working on more elegant solutions saves time in the long run rather than wastes it, but that's a different debate it seems.
    - johnbellone 14y ago
      Unfortunately that debate rarely happens as business priorities are always in the immediate. Elegant solutions tend to have to be part of a phase two initiative to be refactored at a later date.
talkingquickly 14y ago
I think your last point is key; taking time to think about it before adding something to the list. I'm the same when a deadline is approaching, I like to have a list of everything outstanding to meet the deadline so I can work through it without worrying I've missed something. The flip side for me is the long term todo lists which end up being more like bucket lists of things which 'ought to be done at some point'. I now have four buckets in Trello, 'bucket list', 'next 6 months', 'this month' and 'this week' for general ToDo's (as well as separate boards for individual projects) which mitigates lists like this to an extent as when I'm actually trying to get things done I can just look at the 'this week' bucket.
- johnbellone 14y ago
  Long term todo lists wouldn't work with me. In about a week I end up doing much more than what would have been on my long term list, and that boils down to the list never getting done and me getting frustrated at the process. But we definitely have something similar to your Trello bucket for 'future enhancements' or 'quick-wins' that we'd like to complete within the next 3-4 iterations, or 2-3 months, etc. Daily todo lists have always been a value to me, but I rarely have to actually write them down because of work order tickets or bugfixes semantically being the same thing (to me).
  - talkingquickly 14y ago
    For none software tasks I keep looking for a way to make, for want of a better word, 'exponential' todo lists. So if something needs to be done in the next twelve months, it remains very high level in the to do list "arrange trip to America for example", and as the deadline gets closer, it becomes more granular. I've had some success doing this with the sub ToDo lists within Trello cards so as it moves from 12 months to 6 months to 1 month to this week it gets broken down into smaller pieces but it still doesn't feel quite right.
  - JoeAltmaier 14y ago
    Try this? Triage the list; recopy it weekly, collecting notes from the previous week; write broad items at first and break them down as you go.

barbs 14y ago

I don't think he was saying that todo lists were bad per se. I think he was saying that he implemented short-term fixes instead of more elegant solutions that would cause less problems in the long run, and that this was a result of the pressure of having lots of things to do, whether in list form or otherwise. I love todo lists as well. Keeps me organised and focussed :)

nathannecro 14y ago
I understand, but if things need to get done, fixes need to get pushed out instead of wasting time working on more elegant solutions. Isn't that why one plans and ideates beforehand? If the work appears to be overwhelming, you can at least fall back on an organized list so if you do have to cut some corners, the structure of the project doesn't get damaged too much.
- barbs 14y ago
  Ah, I see your point. One might argue that working on more elegant solutions saves time in the long run rather than wastes it, but that's a different debate it seems.
  - johnbellone 14y ago
    Unfortunately that debate rarely happens as business priorities are always in the immediate. Elegant solutions tend to have to be part of a phase two initiative to be refactored at a later date.

talkingquickly 14y ago

I think your last point is key; taking time to think about it before adding something to the list. I'm the same when a deadline is approaching, I like to have a list of everything outstanding to meet the deadline so I can work through it without worrying I've missed something. The flip side for me is the long term todo lists which end up being more like bucket lists of things which 'ought to be done at some point'. I now have four buckets in Trello, 'bucket list', 'next 6 months', 'this month' and 'this week' for general ToDo's (as well as separate boards for individual projects) which mitigates lists like this to an extent as when I'm actually trying to get things done I can just look at the 'this week' bucket.

johnbellone 14y ago
Long term todo lists wouldn't work with me. In about a week I end up doing much more than what would have been on my long term list, and that boils down to the list never getting done and me getting frustrated at the process. But we definitely have something similar to your Trello bucket for 'future enhancements' or 'quick-wins' that we'd like to complete within the next 3-4 iterations, or 2-3 months, etc. Daily todo lists have always been a value to me, but I rarely have to actually write them down because of work order tickets or bugfixes semantically being the same thing (to me).
- talkingquickly 14y ago
  For none software tasks I keep looking for a way to make, for want of a better word, 'exponential' todo lists. So if something needs to be done in the next twelve months, it remains very high level in the to do list "arrange trip to America for example", and as the deadline gets closer, it becomes more granular. I've had some success doing this with the sub ToDo lists within Trello cards so as it moves from 12 months to 6 months to 1 month to this week it gets broken down into smaller pieces but it still doesn't feel quite right.
- JoeAltmaier 14y ago
  Try this? Triage the list; recopy it weekly, collecting notes from the previous week; write broad items at first and break them down as you go.