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To-Do Lists Don't Work

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Re: To-Do Lists Don't Work

#31

Post by ismarc »

j45 wrote: post #6

Cool article. Reminds me of the best calendar/to-do list software I ever used and have spent years trying to re-locate on another mobile os: DateBk6 ( http://www.pimlicosoftware.com/datebk6.htm ) What did it do? 1) It let you make to do items, but assign a date to them too. 2) If you didn't assign a date to them, they'd stay in your general to-do list. 3) If there was a date for the to-do, the to-do item would show u…

I've been working on something in my spare time that is kind of in a similar vein (it's actually automatic scheduling of tasks based on defined limitations) and it's functional enough that I'm using it for keeping track of the random crap I have to take care of that isn't directly work related. I started making it because I am probably the most absent minded person around and need more than just a list of crap to do at some point. It's currently command-line only (built with infrastructure to end up hosted, which is where the current work is). If you're interested in giving it a look, drop me an email, I'd love to get some feedback from someone else using it as well.

Re: To-Do Lists Don't Work

#32

Post by mynegation »

j45 wrote: post #29
FireBeyond wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try as I might... I can't justify, or figure out how $50 (+ $10 for a mobile app - used to be $20) for a To Do list, however nice, is worth it.

I'd pay $1000 for the right app from any app store today. The problem is they all suck because they do a few things well and none do the simplest the best. I've spent hundreds of dollars. The closest I've found to being reasonable is omnifocus but it too is missing the calendar, but it does tasks well.

I also had Palm m515 and DateBk in the good ol' days. If you have iOS device, try Pocket Informant. This is what I use now and I think it covers most, if not all, of your requirements and syncs with toodledo and google calendar too!

Re: To-Do Lists Don't Work

#33

Post by sgentle »

j45 wrote: post #6

Cool article. Reminds me of the best calendar/to-do list software I ever used and have spent years trying to re-locate on another mobile os: DateBk6 ( http://www.pimlicosoftware.com/datebk6.htm ) What did it do? 1) It let you make to do items, but assign a date to them too. 2) If you didn't assign a date to them, they'd stay in your general to-do list. 3) If there was a date for the to-do, the to-do item would show u…

For a while I used Hiveminder and Google Calendar to do something similar. You can email tasks like "Take out the washing [due:today]" to your Hiveminder email and then they show up in your Google Calendar for that day. It was very low-friction.

The integration is just iCal-based, so it should work with most other calendar systems.

Re: To-Do Lists Don't Work

#34

Post by aaronf »

To-do lists do work. What the author lacks is a today list.

The purpose of the to-do list is to keep track of everything you have to do for the rest of your life. You should not be working off of it everyday or, as the author notes, it will overwhelm/paralyze you.

The purpose of the today list is to focus on one day at a time. A today list is a subset of the to-do list, the items you need to think about that day.

This simple distinction goes a long way. With a today list, you can actually get through your day, and feel good when the list is done.

Re: To-Do Lists Don't Work

#35

Post by dredmorbius »

j45 wrote: post #30
dredmorbius wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PalmOS, for all its cruftiness, had (and perhaps inspired) some very well-designed, highly usable mobile apps. For all the flash and glitz I see on iOS and Android, that's still lacking in too many cases. I also miss graffiti and the bubble keyboard both.

Some call it crufty, I call it the first and best and most productive smartphone ever, to this day. It's kind of sad the best of Palm OS can't be replicated to this day.

I agree. I had a Palm III, then a Centro. The Centro HW was crap (bits and pieces were falling off after a few months), but the OS and apps were very usable and accessible. Hardware controls may not be sexy, but I could use the phone with damp hands, something I can't say for my Android device.

By "crufty", I mean that there wasn't a lot of shine or bling. Instead, Palm's engineers realized they were working with a very limited environment and kept things both simple and easy to use.

Re: To-Do Lists Don't Work

#36

Post by j45 »

mynegation wrote: post #32
j45 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd pay $1000 for the right app from any app store today. The problem is they all suck because they do a few things well and none do the simplest the best. I've spent hundreds of dollars. The closest I've found to being reasonable is omnifocus but it too is missing the calendar, but it does tasks well.

I also had Palm m515 and DateBk in the good ol' days. If you have iOS device, try Pocket Informant. This is what I use now and I think it covers most, if not all, of your requirements and syncs with toodledo and google calendar too!

What's another $12.99.

I have to admit though, I'm kind of scared, because it appears to have the same level of detail that DateBk did.

I purchased the new version of DateBk called Pimlical for Android and tried it out today. Not quite there but definitely a possibility. Since I'm on iOS I'll try it out.

If this works, I can't begin to put in words how indebted I'll be fore the reco

Re: To-Do Lists Don't Work

#37

Post by j45 »

chief8192 wrote: post #14
j45 wrote: post #6

Cool article. Reminds me of the best calendar/to-do list software I ever used and have spent years trying to re-locate on another mobile os: DateBk6 ( http://www.pimlicosoftware.com/datebk6.htm ) What did it do? 1) It let you make to do items, but assign a date to them too. 2) If you didn't assign a date to them, they'd stay in your general to-do list. 3) If there was a date for the to-do, the to-do item would show u…

I'm guessing you've probably already tried it out, but if you haven't, you should check out Things: http://culturedcode.com/things/

Tried it, not quite what I need. It's super polished and nice.

My problem is I juggle about 10 active projects for customers where I should be working on maybe 2-3 and that's been my norm for 10+ years, plus my own projects.

DateBk had the chutzpah to keep up and keep me pointed in the right direction.

Re: To-Do Lists Don't Work

#38

Post by alexwolfe »

I created http://goalstacker.com to address this problem. It's not the list that kills you, its the list you can never finish that kills you. In order to be productive each day, its nice to have a small set of obtainable goals that you can actually finish. This list need to take into account how much time you have and how much time it takes to complete these tasks.

I think the author's method is pretty close, the only problem with a calendar is that if you don't finish the task then one of two things usually happen:

1. You forget about it and it fades away never to be completed. 2. You have to keep moving it to a different day until you complete it.

Re: To-Do Lists Don't Work

#39

Post by arundelo »

gwern wrote: post #22

A week or two ago, I read the book _Willpower_ by psychologists Baumeister & Tierney. They include a chapter praising To-Do Lists. Who should I believe, 2 famous psychologists who basically invented the entire subfield dealing with willpower, or a consultant business blogger?

1. Tierney is a journalist. (Neither Wikipedia nor his nytimes.com bio seem to specify what his degree is in.)

2. Though this was not its intent, Markovitz's article can be taken as a warning about particular failure modes of to-do lists rather than an unequivocal critique of them.

I agree with your point, though.

(Edit: Maybe you were thinking of Dianne M. Tice.)

Re: To-Do Lists Don't Work

#40

Post by chimeracoder »

This post should really be titled 'How Not To Create a To-Do List'

I'm a firm believer in the GTD (Getting Things Done) school of thought, which addresses many, if not all, of these concerns .

Paradox of choice: You should never have a choice of when to do items. Instead, pick a time every day/week to organize your to-do list and figure out when things should be done, and in what order. This should be separate from the time that you're doing tasks. So when you reference your to-do list, the choice is always simple: 'Can I do the next item on the list right now or not?'. (In practice you bend this rule slightly - but only by a little bit... a lot less than most people think).

Heterogeneous complexity: See above. Also, write down time estimates for each task and time yourself.

Heterogenous Priority: To-do list items should be on your calendar. A calendar is a to-do list, and a to-do list is a calendar. If your two are separate, you'r doing it wrong (according to GTD). And if it's on your to-do list, it should be done today or not at all. If you didn't get to it, before immediately bumping it to tomorrow, ask yourself whether it really needs to be done, and whether it actually fits with your long-term goals.

Lack of context: GTD specifically recommends partitioning tasks by context.

Lack of commitment devices: Having the list pre-sorted (ie, sorted at a time separate from when you're actually 'doing work') addresses this somewhat. It's not a cure-all, but honestly, if you're having trouble committing yourself to do the tasks as you prioritized them last night, I can't see how you'd be any better off with no structured list guiding you.

As for that last element: Yes, you do need to learn how to say 'no', but if you say 'no' based on a careful, logical evaluation of your to-do list at a time when you're not doing work, you'll be making a much wiser judgement than if you say 'no' because you're feeling overwhelmed by all the things that you're keeping in your head.

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