Get Everything Done

After years of experimenting with various task management systems, I've come to realize that the true value of a task list lies in its economy – using it only for things that genuinely benefit from external tracking.

## The Functional vs. Aspirational Divide

I believe task lists work best when they serve very clear, functional purposes rather than acting as repositories for everything we wish to accomplish. Here's how I distinguish between what belongs on a list and what doesn't:

### What Deserves List Space:

1. **Calendar appointments** - Meetings and time-specific commitments that involve coordination with others
2. **Repeatable processes** - Checklists for procedures you'll need to reproduce exactly (like month-end accounting procedures)
3. **Genuine memory supplements** - Things you would actually forget without an external reminder (project deadlines, birthdays)
4. **Functional reminders** - Items with specific parameters that would otherwise slip through the cracks

### What Probably Doesn't:

1. **Daily habits** - Things like "exercise" or "meditate" that are better driven by internal motivation
2. **Aspirational items** - Vague intentions that represent wishes rather than concrete tasks
3. **Routine personal care** - Tasks like "brush teeth" that are already automated in your life
4. **Random tasks without context** - Items that aren't tied to deadlines, checklists, important reminders, or projects that give them meaning

## The Hidden Cost of Aspirational Lists

When we load our task systems with aspirational items, we transform potentially enjoyable activities into obligations. The list becomes a source of pressure rather than support.

What's worse, these wish-list items tend to remain perpetually undone, creating a backlog of guilt. We then spend mental energy maintaining and migrating these items from system to system, creating more overhead than value.

## A More Economical Approach

I've found greater success by keeping my formal lists extremely economical – limited to only those items that have clear functional utility. Everything else is allowed to flow from internal motivation, environmental cues, and natural rhythm.

This doesn't mean abandoning aspirational activities – it simply means not forcing them into the same management system as concrete, well-defined tasks.

## The Problem with Someday/Maybe Lists

I've come to agree with Mark's perspective on "someday/maybe" lists. Initially reluctant to let go of this concept, I now realize these lists often grow into unmanageable monsters that create more mental burden than benefit.

When a project or task doesn't serve a clear purpose right now, it's better to trust your brain's natural filtering system. The truly important ideas will resurface when the time is right, while the rest can peacefully fade away without generating guilt or administrative overhead.

Rather than maintaining an ever-growing backlog of potential futures, this approach allows your natural interests and priorities to guide what comes into focus.

## Finding Balance

The essence of efficient task management isn't capturing everything but being selective about what deserves external tracking. By keeping lists economical—focused only on items with clear utility—we transform them from sources of obligation into genuinely helpful tools.

This balanced approach honors both our planning needs and our natural tendencies. It creates space for both structure and spontaneity. Most importantly, it puts the task system back in its proper place: serving us, rather than the other way around.

Hi Scott,

I agree with what you are saying. I also struggle with these concepts and am flipping between the two. My thoughts were a way for me to reconcile the two. I get the allure of no list/time surfing, but also see the point in getting all your tasks on a list.

The problem I see with time surfing (or no list) is that it is not really always a no list. You always need to have a calendar (which is just a list with dates), so the idea of no list is for me more a romantic idea than something practical. But it still has value.

With catching it all, you get stuff off your mind and this provides some mental relief, but only temporary as that list of things comes back and eats at you in a quite oppressive way. Then we end up spending a lot of time on how to manage this beast, while also thinking that do I really need to have this list of items when most of the time, I just know what to do.

I guess the issue also becomes, do you want a list to tell you what to do or do you yourself want to decide now what to do. I think it fundamentally goes to trust. Do I trust myself to know what to do?

I do think there is value to just write things down as they appear, but this is almost like an email inbox which you need to clear. You need to ask is this thing I am writing down really a task that I need to do. Or is it just a fuzzy list of ideas, wishlists etc. that I am not realistically tackling right now. This is best to leave to your mind to filter out and you need to trust that your mind will do a better filtering of this process.

So for me the following is an illustration. During the day I might capture the following on a paper notebook on my desk:

* Fix roof
* Learn python
* Add line "add team member" to project "recruitment process"
* Check emails
* Read fiction book
* Publish report by next Monday

Item 1 - goes into due soon task list
Item 2 - this goes nowhere. Your brain must decide when you want to do this
Item 3 - Into project folder
Item 4 - this is useless. You would naturally know when to check emails
Item 5 - useless item to be discarded. Read the book when you feel it is right. A list should not tell you
Item 6 - This is on your to do list with a due date. It has the same importance as a calendar entry and is the truest form of task list and has a very clear utility.

So, maybe writing stuff down feels cathartic, but then you need to ensure your list is economical and decide if it really needs to be on the list. I feel it takes a bit more effort at the start to make this distinction, but the outcome is that you are working on what you have decided and not leaving it to a list to dictate to you.

My thoughts are however fluid on this.

Avrum:

Good points.

I think the meditating topic is worth exploring. In practice I think it is how this should be done.

Let's say the worst case of working is the following:
- Open your emails and just start working on whatever is being served up by your inbox. So basically, you have little agency and is just waiting for work to come to you. Basically drifting. This I view as the worst style of working, even though I do it sometimes when I am just low in motivation.

Oppose this to: Without looking at your emails or any inboxes. You check in with yourself and ask what is the best thing to do now? Maybe the meditation lies here. Maybe the answer is still then "Process emails", but you have taken away the auto-pilot mode and are intentional in what you want to do.