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To-Do Lists Don't Work

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Re: To-Do Lists Don't Work

#31

Post by jimbokun »

nadaviv wrote: post #22

I've had issues with TODO list in the past, but settled on a combination of a Kanban board using Trello and Pomodoros, which works quite well so far. If anyone is interested, this is what we're doing: This is how our board looks like: http://i.imgur.com/LnD5a5H.png Each Monday, we pull a week worth of tasks from the Backlog to the Weekly sprint. Each morning, we pull a day worth of work to the Daily goal. We separate…

This seems to include the critical factor cited in the article: calendar based commitments.

By scheduling tasks in weekly and daily blocks, you are factoring in priorities and time estimates into your planning.

Re: To-Do Lists Don't Work

#32

Post by tifareth »

TODO lists -don't- work? Maybe they'd work with some mindfulness, context and discipline? The author acts as if David Allen's "Getting Things Done" did not exist. GTD calls for all these things and, at the most basic level, you're tasked with assigning priority to, creating context outlines for and estimating time commitment for all of your tasks during the first time block in your morning.

GTD became well-known because it works. You just have to take the book seriously enough to both finish and internalize it. Difficult, perhaps, for many in the information-age [quick-fix-age]. GTD is a lifestyle versus a system. That's the only way it works.

Software: org-mode is what I use and it's amazing. You can create massive collapsable lists with TODOs, outlines, context with code-blocks that can be set to any language, direct links to files/emails/websites/almost-anything. It's versatility and scope is so enormous that it can be adapted to suite any conceivable need. Like scheduling? Go to a TODO item and CTRL-s (C-s for you fellow emacs users) and a calendar pops up. Select a date, hit enter and it's agenda'd. The agenda can be set up to send you reminders via iCal, Growl/libnotify/Snarl, appointment-mode, Remind, Google Calendar... practically anything!

The problem with these brilliant systems is the initial time commitment where there are no pats on the back (no insta-grata) and no payout of any kind. They're both intricate systems that work like a circuit - if the circuit isn't complete, it is broken.

Excellent org-mode guide: http://doc.norang.ca/org-mode.html

Re: To-Do Lists Don't Work

#33

Post by [deleted] »

bcl wrote: post #29

TODO lists certainly can work. I use 2 levels of lists, a long-term list and daily lists. If a daily item isn't finished in a day I copy it into the next day's log entry at the end of the day. I've been doing it like this for around 7 or 8 years now. I combine this with my daily log (vim text file) to track what I've done and what I should be doing. I don't use the lists to tell me exactly how to do things, but as a…

[deleted]

Re: To-Do Lists Don't Work

#35

Post by hawkharris »

I made a to-do list webapp with a twist just for myself, and it's been really helpful.

The twist is, every Wednesday, it calculates how many of my goals I've accomplished during the past week, assigns me a grade, and sends the grade to three of my friends, to help hold me accountable.

Re: To-Do Lists Don't Work

#36

Post by tifareth »

officemonkey wrote: post #28

Hasn't the Harvard Business Review ever read the book "Getting Things Done?" Anyone serious about managing their time is familiar with each of these problems and develops their To-Do list with these complexities in mind. The To-Do list is dead. Long live the To-Do list.

Shocking, isn't it? But he goes on to describe GTD concepts that would make TODOs meaningful as if he is the original source of said ideas.

Re: To-Do Lists Don't Work

#37

Post by darkxanthos »

I use Omnifocus which mixes the concepts of projects, todo lists, and calendar scheduling together into a very flexible package.

I don't like that all my data is in a proprietary format but it's the only tool that's helped me get my chaotic business life under control.

Re: To-Do Lists Don't Work

#38

Post by prottmann »

jacquesm wrote: post #15
prottmann wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think in the article they try to explain that todos are OK, but todos did not motivate or give a good feeling. Because when you finish todos, you have more new todos, a never ending story. Thats why todo-list are so negative.

Yes, when you finish todos you have more new todos. That's the nature of life, it has nothing to do with the todos. If you don't feel like doing stuff, then don't. If you do, use lists. Todo lists are positive because they also contain the (usually invisible, but you can typically show them in most todo list software) list of completed tasks and over time that list will get impressively long, much longer than the one…

Thats my experience too, if somebody don't want to use a tool, then it is irrelevant if it is the best tool in the world.

Re: To-Do Lists Don't Work

#39

Post by mtkd »

I maintain a lot - and they work for me.

One recent addition to the set has been a 'simple/tired' list - where I queue mind-numbing renamings etc.

It's useful when I just want to do something that requires no thinking at all (at very start of day or late at night).

Haven't found any better storage system then a .txt file yet.

Re: To-Do Lists Don't Work

#40

Post by 6thSigma »

The only to-do list that I've actually used for more than a week is Any.do. I really like how you can organize your tasks vaguely based on time (Today, Tomorrow, Upcoming, Someday). Adding that solves a lot of the author's problems.
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