Is the “to-do list” useful? Avoid completion anxiety and use to-do lists in a human way
Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2025 9:51 am
The " to-do list " has almost become an indispensable tool when it comes to time management. It is not just a simple piece of paper or a digital list, but also a way for many people to remember and manage countless work and life affairs. However, is this seemingly useful tool really the best antidote to time management? Or is it more often a productivity trap that traps us in endless anxiety?
One of the questions I’m asked most often in my time belize mobile database management classes is, “How do I get my to-do list done?” or, “How do I make a to-do list that gets done?” Rather than bringing peace and motivation, to-do lists seem to bring about the fear of not getting things done.
An ever-growing and always-too-long to-do list is often stressful because it reminds us how much we still have to do and how little time we have.
My own experience is that it is intuitively easy to use a to-do list as a time management center.
Giving the following three things to the to-do list at the same time: "remember to assign", "remind to do", and "require to complete" will turn the to-do list into an efficiency trap and even a distraction at work.
One of the questions I’m asked most often in my time belize mobile database management classes is, “How do I get my to-do list done?” or, “How do I make a to-do list that gets done?” Rather than bringing peace and motivation, to-do lists seem to bring about the fear of not getting things done.
An ever-growing and always-too-long to-do list is often stressful because it reminds us how much we still have to do and how little time we have.
My own experience is that it is intuitively easy to use a to-do list as a time management center.
Giving the following three things to the to-do list at the same time: "remember to assign", "remind to do", and "require to complete" will turn the to-do list into an efficiency trap and even a distraction at work.