To-Do Lists Don't Work

  > We operate on a kind of tiering system, technicians, 
  > sysadmins, and engineers. Sysadmins and engineers are 
  > generally the ones entering tickets, and the 
  > technicians the ones working them. Generally, 
  > but not always.

Right. In general, a sysadmin or a engineer ("someone else") decides what should get worked on, and enters it into the issue tracker. The technician is not involved in this decision making process: They just pull tasks and work to complete them.

To pull Markovitz' article back into this, the sysadmins and engineers are (I assume) able to push back on the business, providing a reality-check when plans are unrealistic, and they are the ones he's suggesting should not work off of a simple to do list.

Well I have a $250 piece of software called Flying Logic. I like it because it automatically lays out the graph when you draw a new edge.

I believe he's talking about some prevention is better than cure sort of thing. It's not important to get your car checked today because you have important things to do. However, if this happens every day, then one day your car is going to fail. Then, getting the car checked becomes a priority but if you'd fit it in earlier on, you could have gotten away with never having to deal with an emergency.

Essentially, he's talking about how we discount future risk when we prioritise tasks.

Funny, I use Trello in a similar manor.

Columns: Ideas -> Planned -> In Progress -> Deployed -> Client Review -> Done (week of x)

Ideas is: for new stories, unaccepted work.

Planned is: for stories the client has accepted as work.

In progress is: for work being currently worked on (also doubles as time tracking).

Deployed is: for stories that have been completed (tested & deployed).

Client Review is: for stories that the client has chosen to accept.

Done is for tracking completed work for that week, a new column is created at the start of the week.

Other conventions used are: Cards are in order, top of the list is the high priority. Blue label for blocked cards, orange for unconfirmed issues, red for confirmed issues.

Another thing used is Trello Points for estimations (a chrome plugin).

The problems that the author mentions are behavioral problems not problems with to do lists in general. Nothing is stopping someone from adding priority, context, etc. To do lists in their simplest form are just a way to get it out of your brain and in a real-world format so you don't forget them.

It's actually a really interesting time for people building software in this space: http://alexdschiff.com/post/58069189811/chaos-in-consumer-pr.... Lots of shut downs, fundraises, acquisitions and chaos that is consolidating user bases in one of the most fragmented industries around.

I'm writing an essay on the subject right now, and I think the biggest problems with productivity software come down to these three things:

1) It's not just your to do list. Most tools try to make arbitrary distinctions between what is a "to do" vs. what is not when the way that most people operate — and this is often a shocker to people that are into productivity — is just "I need to write SOME thought down for SOME reason LATER." For example, people might make a "note" that is just "Local Natives" - the name of a band. But isn't that representative of a task, "Check out Local Natives"? The lines are blurry, and while most people keep track of tasks in some way, they don't really "do" task management consciously.

2) No one is getting social right. On the one hand, there's Evernote, which deliberately ignores social, and then there's email, which is a great way to send things to people but a terrible way to keep track of things for the recipient. In the middle there are collaboration tools, but any project manager can tell you getting everyone to adopt a new system is heinous. IMO, you need to start with and build around the individual first (like Evernote), but tightly integrate a social layer to get those notes and to do's to other people on top of it.

3) Now what? The author makes an important point about context. Note-taking apps and to do lists have incredibly rich data about people that can be leveraged to actually help deliver that context and guide people through the next step. The next generation of productivity software will be less about helping people stay organized and more about actually helping them execute and get things done.

Disclaimer: I'm the co-founder and CEO of a company in this space called Fetchnotes. We're gearing up to release a new version with the above 3 things at the heart of our approach. If you're interested, get in touch: alex(at)fetchnotes(dot)com.