The to-do list problem

Slightly off-topic, but <i>never</i> auto-play video (or audio) content on a website. If I want it to be played, I click on it, otherwise it's just annoying.

I hate to-do lists. The worst are the ones where others can pile up things for you.<p>The problem with most to-do lists is that they treat your time as infinite. You just have to take one item after the other and chunk trough it. You're just the CPU executing the tasks you've been handled trough like a puppet. Soon enough the list becomes a big graveyard of things you didn't have the time to do and it's depressing.<p>It's better if the system forces you to filter tasks upfront. Like a tweet, there is only so much you can fit in a day. Get over it, you won't have the time to do X, just forget about it. It's important to have quality over quantity.

Did any of the previous commenters actually watch the video? Ignore the title, it's not about to-do lists. If you ever want to be successful at a startup, watch the video. Understand what he's saying about those three things that are required to get action from someone. Then look for his other work on Captology explaining how computers can manipulate people (in both the good and bad sense).<p>Seriously, WATCH THE VIDEO.

I agree that one needs motivation and ability to complete a task. I'm not sure any app or electronic service is going to supply that. If it did, you'd find a lot of people out of work.<p>As for this quote:<p>"How about having a reminder showing up when you get an email from a relevant person that can help you accomplish your task, or a reminder showing up when a relevant person is calling [through vox.io of course]."<p>I think you're falling into the trap that most tool-builders fall into- over-thinking the problem. Most people are pretty simple. That's why we still keep pads of paper and post-it notes next to our $1500 workstations. For a lot of tasks speed and simplicity provide far greater benefit than any expertly-engineered web service ever could. In any case, why would I want a reminder to complete a task if I am getting emailed by somebody related to that task? In that regard I hate to say it, but email will win out over an integrated task list. Why? Because the email itself is serving as your reminder. A secondary service nudging you to complete the task after the email seems superfluous.

&#62; To build an intelligent to-do list it will take more than polished pixels, so please start putting more intelligence in your to-do tools. Your users will be thankful and will hopefully have much shorter to-do lists.<p>After trying many things, I have now switched to Trello. Using it I've become convinced that "intelligent to-do lists" are a fallacy, what we need are <i>dumb</i> todo lists. Something not much smarter than a whiteboard or a piece of paper.<p>For reasons I don't understand, those just work.

This is the problem that GTD tries to solve. Omnifocus is a great piece of software that's built on this methodology<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Produc...</a><p><a href="http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omnifocus/" rel="nofollow">http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omnifocus/</a>

The problem is that there are multiple workflows people use and dont want to change. I for instance rely on invox zero and calendar, so they function as todo list. Many people i know use other methods.<p>On the other hand, some people argue that if tou cant keep your todos in your head, you have a bigger problem ;)

To be effective, your to-do list should also include when and where beside the task.<p>The post assumes humans are bound to sense habits and gives little credit to the power to making decisions - where one can change their mind and act upon that decision.<p>All you need is a mental transition between the previous activity and the new activity. How? Well, the problem has existed as long as humans, so just figure out how parents convince kindergarteners to go to school, why some cultures pray before eating food (try to think beyond thankful-for-food reasons), and how famous leaders can led entire movements. The common denominator to all these will be your answer.

Primitive version of GTD. GTD solves the issues raised in this post and more. Many todo apps work with a GTD workflow. I use Toodledo (web app) and Due Today (Android), they sync perfectly. Re-reading the GTD book every 6 months or so helps to be consistent with applying it, because the devil is in thinking 'oh I'm just going to skip this or that task for now', or not being diligent in e.g. assigning contexts. For GTD (any system, really) to work, you need to hammer it into your habits until it's stuck so snugly that it feels weird to do things any other way.

Just last night I was thinking that Reminders needed a "remind me at sunset" option to remind me to round up the animals. As it is I have to change the time of that reminder every month.<p>There are probably a ton of triggers that could be useful. Off the top of my head: time, location, weather, the people you are currently with (4sq checkins), current call, recent texts, or emails. I'm sure a bunch more.<p>I'm not sure that I'd call this a todo list, but it does sound like a GTD support system.

Very closely related to Fogg's behavior model of "trigger", "execution", "motivation", Charles Duhigg in "The Power of Habit" writes of the steps of the habit loop as "cue", "routine", "reward".<p>Habit is coming up to be a big topic in app design and development.<p>"The Power of Habit" is a good read which systematically lays out some science behind what habits are, how they work, and how to leverage them.

It has never worked for me. I ended up creating a not-motivated-to-do list.

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