Re: To-do or not to-do

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Note: This message is from the outliners.com archive kindly provided by Dave Winer.

Outliners.com Message ID: 3196

Posted by zeoli
2005-05-06 08:02:15

Jack,

I am not sure my response will be of any service because I don’t actually “maintain” a to-do list. I’ve tried that, of course, several times (and probably will again in the future) but I always found it completely overwhelming. Questions like “In how much detail do you parse a project?” or “Should I include every piece of my life on my to-do list?” hound me. I find that if I make a to-do list and then don’t include every single thing the system falls apart… or maybe I fall apart. I do better when I don’t have a to-do list, but just work a project one step at a time. Generaly, I am able to do this in my head, but when I can’t, I find that Brainstorm is a great way to think through a project at the start. I usually don’t chip it into tiny pieces, just steps or milestones. But sometimes I need more focus, and Brainstorm, of course, allows for that. I usually find that just the exercise of making the list is all I need, and I don’t even have to refer back to it… though it is nice to know it is there if I need it.

If I’m creating a list of steps that need more detail, I will sometimes use ECCO Pro, which allows me to add meta data details and check things off as I go.

However, if I really, really wanted to create to-do lists and use them extensively, I would use ListPro (http://www.iliumsoft.com), which is one of the great list-building programs around… and has terrific Palm and PocketPC versions for taking your lists wherever you go.

Steve Z.

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