

The psychology of the to-do list - gnosis
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130129-the-psychology-of-the-to-do-list

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stephengillie
I've been anti-todo list for a long time. Maybe I've been too harsh on them.
But they have 2 major flaws for me:

-Putting the task on the todo list removes my desire to complete the task. One of my motivations is to get a project out of my head before I forget.

-My lists always get cluttered with stuff that sounds cool or fun, or stuff I feel obligated to do, but really don't want to do. Basically, it becomes a list of things I shouldn't waste my time with. But paring the list down is depressing because it forces me to admit I'll never do these things. Without the list I don't think about that.

I don't see how GTD would solve those problems.

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JoeAltmaier
I keep a physical, paper notebook. I write todo lists, check things off as
they get done.

When the list gets cluttered, I choose a blank page and write another list,
copying things that didn't get done. If a thing is stale or no longer
interesting, I don't copy it.

Now I don't have to keep everything in my head; I can keep ~20 things on paper
and revisit the list every time I run out of things to do.

