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The psychology of the to-do list
- stephengillie 14y agoI've been anti-todo list for a long time. Maybe I've been too harsh on them. But they have 2 major flaws for me: -Putting the task on the todo list removes my desire to complete the task. One of my motivations is to get a project out of my head before I forget. -My lists always get cluttered with stuff that sounds cool or fun, or stuff I feel obligated to do, but really don't want to do. Basically, it becomes a list of things I shouldn't waste my time with. But paring the list down is depressing because it forces me to admit I'll never do these things. Without the list I don't think about that. I don't see how GTD would solve those problems.
- JoeAltmaier 14y agoI keep a physical, paper notebook. I write todo lists, check things off as they get done. When the list gets cluttered, I choose a blank page and write another list, copying things that didn't get done. If a thing is stale or no longer interesting, I don't copy it. Now I don't have to keep everything in my head; I can keep ~20 things on paper and revisit the list every time I run out of things to do.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]