> Whenever I make a todo list, I forget it and find it weeks later with some items completed and the rest have turned unimportant. I think that's the big prob

> Whenever I make a todo list, I forget it and find it weeks later with some items completed and the rest have turned unimportant. I think that's the big problem, your todo lists are too big and too long. Getting Things Done would be a good thing to research. Here's an example. This Saturday I've got to wrap up a side project. I'm planning on making Saturday a "heavy burn" day, I've got a TON to do. Saturday morning, from 7:30am - 8:00am I start planning (aka todo list). For the first half hour I'm going to casually wake up, sip coffee and write down everything I want to accomplish IN THAT DAY. It is going to look something like this: * Complete Add/Remove Users * Create permissions system * Create groups-in-groups * Complete external log-in * Dinner w/wife * Park w/daughter * Read Robopocalypse, have beer, alone time * Play with sprite map for game (fun-side-project) * Final payment to credit card * Call company about tree triming prices * Talk to Frank about UI changes * Call parents about Thanksgiving * Dog needs to be walked This todo list is useless after Saturday. It includes some things that are part of my larger goals (spending more time by myself without a computer and reading), some high priority items (do work) and some misc things that I know will probably interrupt my day (thanksgiving plans, dog walking). It also has rewards (Dinner w/wife and Park w/daughter). The end result is to shift this around so that I can spend more time doing the four things I WANT to do that day (park, dinner, dog, book) and as little time doing the rest. So the first thing I'm probably going to do is re-organize this list and from 8:00-8:30 take care of all the 'under 15 minute tasks' * Final payment to credit card * Call company about tree triming prices * Talk to Frank about UI changes * Call parents about Thanksgiving Boom. Now all my possible interruptions or 'things in the back of my mind' are done. Now I can lump together the big things. First I do these three (from 9am-2pm) * Complete Add/Remove Users * Create permissions system * Create groups-in-groups Then I get to do these * Park w/daughter * Dog needs to be walked Wohoo! I just gave myself a goal to reach by 2pm. After that I get this * Complete external log-in * Read Robopocalypse, have beer, alone time * Dinner w/wife And later that evening if I still feel up to it this * Play with sprite map for game (fun-side-project) Would I do this every day? No. However this is a great way for me to maximise the days that I plan to do a ton of work while still not feeling burnt out. It means I can say by Saturday evening that I 'spent time with my wife, daughter, dog' AND 'read a book by myself' AND 'got a shit-ton of work done'. Of course. YMMV. I don't see the need to turn todo lists into a Tabs VS Spaces debate where one side is clearly in the wrong. That's what I feel Atwood is doing, and I don't agree with it.