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Todo apps are meant for robots

blog.frantic.im

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Re: Todo apps are meant for robots

#3
Todo apps are unfinished ticket management tools. What the author sees in Trello is exactly that: a tool aimed at actually managing tasks, not merely trying to keep track of them.

Also

> In fact the advanced solution technology lies in the hands of productivity enemies: social media apps and games.

Please let’s not. Harvesting dark patterns also has mental side effects that we are well aware of now (either you deplete your good will or you keep going on fueled by negative emotions)

Re: Todo apps are meant for robots

#6
Todo list helps you to do things in the same way a shopping list helps you shop. It’s just a tool to facilitate memory and organization.

Motivation, tenacity, and perspective are not really within the scope of todo lists.

Re: Todo apps are meant for robots

#7
I've found nothing more effective than priority ranked todo lists in apple notes (linked to IMAP Notes). One for work, one for my personal life. If I see something on there too long, I either delete it, delegate it, or move it to the top. The work one gets edited more often.

The only "feature" I want really is a diff over time just to see what I've done and what I was doing at the time. I want completion/non-completion to be represented by deletions of lines/bullet points.

Re: Todo apps are meant for robots

#8
post #4

Are there potential solutions to the problems mentioned or is building a great todo list app not possible? I’m leaning towards it’s impossible, but would like to hear what others think.

I think there are solutions, but whether or not they are the same for a large enough market is hard to tell.

I use a leaky bucket metaphor in my todo lists... if a given task sits on a list for too long, then it should more or less fall off. It wasn't as important as you thought. But this is anathema to how most of these systems work.

Re: Todo apps are meant for robots

#9
>3. Sense of accomplishment is important but rare in the digital world. When you mark a task as done in your TODO app, it just hides it. That’s it, no reward, no sense of accomplishment (unless you make your own). I think that’s why some people like Trello or pen-and-paper TODO list: when you get something done, you can see a card moved or a text crossed out. An artifact that proves there was a task here, and now it’s done. Now you are one step closer to your goal.

This one is so good and true.

Re: Todo apps are meant for robots

#10
post #4

Are there potential solutions to the problems mentioned or is building a great todo list app not possible? I’m leaning towards it’s impossible, but would like to hear what others think.

Different activities and different personalities require different approaches I guess. I for example do not get most of the arguments from the writing. Perhaps because I usually need to deal with few big tasks not millions of small ones. The few important ones are easy to keep in mind, need to manage only the less important externally (and strive to get rid of the marginal ones). Others live differently. I guess the task is impossible due to the diverging needs.
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