The Philosophy of a To Do List
A to do list can be used in many ways but here we will focus on how to make a to doc ist that will eliminate as much stress a possible, increase productivity and not become a pain in the ass.
Requirements
An app ideally (will explain why) or a dedicated notebook, piece of paper, note card etc.
A calendar you can easily reference
The patience to iterate and see the big picture
“Engineers will spend 5 hours building something that will save them 5 minutes every day”
The second step is to make sure it’s doable.
And don’t forget that it’s supposed to have a clearly defined outcome. A to do list can be misused as a reminders list for things that are floating in your head, not concrete tasks you check off but an intention or initiative that requires times and a lot more to-doing than a single list can handle.
There are a few key elements to a proper to do list system:
Just-in-time manufacturing of tasks
When that bitch of a reminder pops up on your device, you’d better be ready to do it, or else you end up managing your to do list instead of actioning
using a calendar as a reference for your to do’s will save you from annoyance which turn perfectly honest to do list into flaming bags of shit that you don’t even want to look at. ie. To-do’s only go off at times where you’ve already booked yourself for productive work (Saturday a.m. from 11a.m. -12:30) vs reminders going off while you’re working out etc.
Use sub tasks, you don’t need to open your to do list app and see all 100 tasks if 90 of them fit into the other 10 as next steps
Just-in-time also serves as a philosophical requirement. Your to do list should fit two criterias, needs to be done no matter what and its just a matter of when it gets done or the other bucket of it would be extremely beneficial for me to do this even if I don’t have to (think tasks associated with starting a YouTube channel, business etc.) Anything in the middle you should consider not doing or putting it in a separate list of “maybe tasks”
Length of tasks should be included in a searchable form. #5min, that way when you’re inline waiting for somethig you can find a tasks that fits exactly into the allotted amount of time.
Exclusivity and Respect
Elimination diet + 80/20 + GTD
Eliminate first, then delegate
you can automate to delegate
you can delegate the delegation
Applications that I use
Apple Reminders
Apple Calendar
Others
Notion
To Do (Microsoft)
XYZ
Books on the subject
The Checklist Manifesto (sign up for amazon affiliates if possible)
The 80/20 Principle
Getting Things Done