Comments on: Daily To-Do Lists http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2006/12/19/daily-to-do-lists/ Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:32:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Venkat http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2006/12/19/daily-to-do-lists/comment-page-1/#comment-162011 Venkat Mon, 10 Mar 2008 03:11:43 +0000 http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2006/12/19/daily-to-do-lists/#comment-162011 I really really agree with you actually....I try to make Daily To Do Lists myself and I have noticed, like you, that it increased my productivity a lot. I noticed your comments too and I agree that I think many GTD systems are way way too complicated.... To Do Lists should be simple and flexible. I actually like using online systems though (I know you mentioned a "binder"; but that's just too... well I mean imagine you go somewhere, you'd have to chug your binder around)... On that topic I think a good Daily To Do List that's simple and flexible is <a href="http://www.zotodo.com/" rel="nofollow">zotodo.com</a>. It's pretty primitive at this stage, but I think that's what makes it so goood.. simplicty. Anyway, good post. I really really agree with you actually….I try to make Daily To Do Lists myself and I have noticed, like you, that it increased my productivity a lot. I noticed your comments too and I agree that I think many GTD systems are way way too complicated…. To Do Lists should be simple and flexible. I actually like using online systems though (I know you mentioned a “binder”; but that’s just too… well I mean imagine you go somewhere, you’d have to chug your binder around)… On that topic I think a good Daily To Do List that’s simple and flexible is zotodo.com. It’s pretty primitive at this stage, but I think that’s what makes it so goood.. simplicty. Anyway, good post.

]]> By: Trying to get organized, need some tips - Personal Development for Smart People Forums http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2006/12/19/daily-to-do-lists/comment-page-1/#comment-3906 Trying to get organized, need some tips - Personal Development for Smart People Forums Wed, 17 Jan 2007 08:04:25 +0000 http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2006/12/19/daily-to-do-lists/#comment-3906 [...] Hi Yalpe, I am sure that a quick Google search will find you an enormous amount of info and free software for to-do lists, but here is my experience. There is a huge range of needs from a student through to a senior executive and you will not find one system that fits everyone’s needs. Executives have sectretaries to look after their to-do lists, but that would probably be out of the question for you (certainly it is for me!!). Although GTD, 7 Habits etc tend to decry to-do lists as outmoded, they are actually very efficient tools for daily work. Nobody expects to sort out their life’s purpose and meaning on a scrappy to-do list, but for keeping control of the next few hours they are hard to beat. Scott Young (a member here) wrote about this recently, see Scott H Young » Daily To-Do Lists I have tried various software solutions from Word or NotePad through to freeware custom software, but I find that I finish up printing the list on a daily basis anyway. Perhaps it is an age thing, but I am still more comfortable with seeing a bit of paper on my desk with the to-do list. It gives a great deal of satisfaction to be able to draw a thick red line through a completed item, and when you get to mid-afternoon and see that 7 of your 10items are already crossed out it helps to motivate as well. While I believe to-do lists are great for daily work, there is a need for longer term planning that does not go well with to-do lists. Here I am talking of your major goals – the life’s purpose and meaning stuff. For this category the 7 Habits and GTD methods are great and you can get those books cheaply in paperback or from a library. The Simpleology system looks to me to be very similar to GTD (I suppose the GTD enthusiasts will roast me for saying that) and it provides some useful templates. Note that the first Simplology course is free. Some of the first few lessons are rather cheesy, but it quickly gets down to the nitty-gritty stuff. [...]

]]> By: Scott Young http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2006/12/19/daily-to-do-lists/comment-page-1/#comment-2678 Scott Young Thu, 21 Dec 2006 00:02:07 +0000 http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2006/12/19/daily-to-do-lists/#comment-2678 Antonio, Thanks for the kind words. Daily to-do lists are pretty basic and highly unoriginal. That being said, it has had a huge impact on me. Just thought I'd let the rest of the world know. Antonio,

Thanks for the kind words. Daily to-do lists are pretty basic and highly unoriginal. That being said, it has had a huge impact on me. Just thought I’d let the rest of the world know.

]]> By: Antonio http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2006/12/19/daily-to-do-lists/comment-page-1/#comment-2667 Antonio Wed, 20 Dec 2006 16:00:18 +0000 http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2006/12/19/daily-to-do-lists/#comment-2667 Hi Scott, I've been reading your blog for some time now, and I'm amazed at how well you put a finger on life's little problems that most people are bothered by, but never really take the time to deal with. About the to-do list, I think you said it right when you said an idea needs to simple to be useful, and the to-do list is as simple example of leverage as it gets. Well, i just wanted to say hi and keep up the good work, and thanx for all the great advice! Antonio from Croatia Hi Scott, I’ve been reading your blog for some time now, and I’m amazed at how well you put a finger on life’s little problems that most people are bothered by, but never really take the time to deal with. About the to-do list, I think you said it right when you said an idea needs to simple to be useful, and the to-do list is as simple example of leverage as it gets. Well, i just wanted to say hi and keep up the good work, and thanx for all the great advice!
Antonio from Croatia

]]> By: Scott Young http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2006/12/19/daily-to-do-lists/comment-page-1/#comment-2664 Scott Young Wed, 20 Dec 2006 15:35:26 +0000 http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2006/12/19/daily-to-do-lists/#comment-2664 Wulfen, I found a lot of the GTD systems too complex for my life. They might be great if you have tons of things to look at and organize, but they were overkill for myself. Worse, when you don't end up putting information on a list constantly you stop referring to it constantly and it becomes ineffective. Organizational techniques are great for reducing the mental burden, but the law of diminishing returns is at work there as well. Good to see someone else is keeping it simple. Wulfen,

I found a lot of the GTD systems too complex for my life. They might be great if you have tons of things to look at and organize, but they were overkill for myself. Worse, when you don’t end up putting information on a list constantly you stop referring to it constantly and it becomes ineffective.

Organizational techniques are great for reducing the mental burden, but the law of diminishing returns is at work there as well. Good to see someone else is keeping it simple.

]]> By: Wulfen http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2006/12/19/daily-to-do-lists/comment-page-1/#comment-2658 Wulfen Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:20:29 +0000 http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2006/12/19/daily-to-do-lists/#comment-2658 I am using a simplified version of GTD now. I keep just a binder with loose sheets within, each sheet being a project or an area of work (examples: car, finances, housekeeping and so on. At work - both my day job and my side business - I keep a sheet for each subarea or subproject). I also keep big binders for archiving memento and reference materials. I don't do the 1-folder-per-day-of-month thing. Too cumbersome. The stuff I need to program for the future, I add it to Google Calendar. I might start using Gmail as a GTD tool: (http://saw.themurdaughs.com/gtd-with-gmail-whitepaper/) But only when I have permanent connection to the net via PDA or something. The good thing about paper sheets is that I have always fast access to them no matter where I am. Each day I take a blank sheet and go through all the others looking for things that need to get done and write them, so for each individual day I do the same as Scott suggests. IMO once you are very organized and you can keep track of more things in your head you can go simplifying systems because you're abstracting the mechanics behind them. But when you're pretty chaotic and disorganized (as I was not too long ago) complex systems like GTD might be needed to get you "in track". Once you develop the proper mindset you can leave the training wheels behind. I am using a simplified version of GTD now. I keep just a binder with loose sheets within, each sheet being a project or an area of work (examples: car, finances, housekeeping and so on. At work – both my day job and my side business – I keep a sheet for each subarea or subproject). I also keep big binders for archiving memento and reference materials.

I don’t do the 1-folder-per-day-of-month thing. Too cumbersome. The stuff I need to program for the future, I add it to Google Calendar. I might start using Gmail as a GTD tool:
(http://saw.themurdaughs.com/gtd-with-gmail-whitepaper/)
But only when I have permanent connection to the net via PDA or something. The good thing about paper sheets is that I have always fast access to them no matter where I am.

Each day I take a blank sheet and go through all the others looking for things that need to get done and write them, so for each individual day I do the same as Scott suggests.

IMO once you are very organized and you can keep track of more things in your head you can go simplifying systems because you’re abstracting the mechanics behind them. But when you’re pretty chaotic and disorganized (as I was not too long ago) complex systems like GTD might be needed to get you “in track”. Once you develop the proper mindset you can leave the training wheels behind.

]]> By: Norbert http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2006/12/19/daily-to-do-lists/comment-page-1/#comment-2648 Norbert Wed, 20 Dec 2006 02:51:01 +0000 http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2006/12/19/daily-to-do-lists/#comment-2648 Dear Scott, I have posted my take on this in my blog because I thought my friends would benefit from it too: http://norbert.mocsnik.hu/blog/archives/223-.html Best Regards, Norbert Dear Scott,

I have posted my take on this in my blog because I thought my friends would benefit from it too: http://norbert.mocsnik.hu/blog/archives/223-.html

Best Regards,
Norbert

]]> By: Scott Young http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2006/12/19/daily-to-do-lists/comment-page-1/#comment-2641 Scott Young Tue, 19 Dec 2006 22:39:17 +0000 http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2006/12/19/daily-to-do-lists/#comment-2641 Thanks for the comments everyone. Anthony, Life is unpredictable. If your job is mostly spontaneous, trying to organize that chaos may be a waste of your time. Instead focusing on building a storehouse of personal energy and just handling stuff as it comes. You must have goals, however? This to-do list also functions as your daily goals. Not necessarily items that need to be done, but what you'd like to achieve and improve upon. So even if you can't write as many specific to-do items, setting daily goals for improvement can have a similar function. Thanks for the comments everyone.

Anthony,

Life is unpredictable. If your job is mostly spontaneous, trying to organize that chaos may be a waste of your time. Instead focusing on building a storehouse of personal energy and just handling stuff as it comes.

You must have goals, however? This to-do list also functions as your daily goals. Not necessarily items that need to be done, but what you’d like to achieve and improve upon. So even if you can’t write as many specific to-do items, setting daily goals for improvement can have a similar function.

]]> By: Anthony http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2006/12/19/daily-to-do-lists/comment-page-1/#comment-2637 Anthony Tue, 19 Dec 2006 21:35:33 +0000 http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2006/12/19/daily-to-do-lists/#comment-2637 I've been trying to implement GTD policies in my life but my problem is this, my day job is completely unpredictable. I might do a,b,c,d and e today, tomorrow f,g,h,i and e, and the next day might be a,b,e,d,h,a,f,c,g,e,z,t and s (lather, rinse, repeat). Not only day to day is it unpredictable but hour to hour as well. I am basically doing 15 different tasks each day and spend half my day multi-tasking out of shear survival. So how do I keep things organized and structured (even in a limited format) so that I have the energy at the end of the day to enjoy life? I’ve been trying to implement GTD policies in my life but my problem is this, my day job is completely unpredictable. I might do a,b,c,d and e today, tomorrow f,g,h,i and e, and the next day might be a,b,e,d,h,a,f,c,g,e,z,t and s (lather, rinse, repeat). Not only day to day is it unpredictable but hour to hour as well. I am basically doing 15 different tasks each day and spend half my day multi-tasking out of shear survival.

So how do I keep things organized and structured (even in a limited format) so that I have the energy at the end of the day to enjoy life?

]]> By: Dave http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2006/12/19/daily-to-do-lists/comment-page-1/#comment-2635 Dave Tue, 19 Dec 2006 21:06:03 +0000 http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2006/12/19/daily-to-do-lists/#comment-2635 I, too, use a similar system. I have a top-bound notepad at work and at home where I'm always writing down to-do items. When I begin one I place a check mark next to it (let's me know it's in progress or has been attended to). When I finish an item I put a line through it... and on to the next task. Been doing this for over 5 years now. Seems to work for me! I, too, use a similar system. I have a top-bound notepad at work and at home where I’m always writing down to-do items. When I begin one I place a check mark next to it (let’s me know it’s in progress or has been attended to). When I finish an item I put a line through it… and on to the next task.
Been doing this for over 5 years now. Seems to work for me!

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