To-do, or not to-do. It’s a good question.

Keep it simple

A rare off-topic post. Because flexibility is fun.

I got to my desk this morning and as I’ve got into the habit of doing, I made a rough list of the things I wanted to do today.

Then I made some tea, and looked at my list to work out which one I should start first. And I thought, yep, this list really helps me focus on what I need to do, and it’s a great visual prompt.

At this point I was immediately distracted by wondering how many other people think so to, so I started search for “Why to do lists are great”. I got four words in and google’s autocomplete came up with:

Why to do lists don’t work

Oh dear.

It seems the productivity industry can’t agree on whether they’re good or not:

Lifehacker notes that some people have so many things to do, they need a range of online tools to help them keep track. (I go for the pen/paper option)

Morgan McLintic likes To-Do lists, but says you need to do more than just write stuff down.

Although Mike Reeves-McMillan goes into  little too much depth for me, suggesting I should “Link To-do Items to Higher-Level Goals”. I think I might spend all day supercharging my list, rather than doing the actual work.

Workawesome clearly loves To-Do lists. Oh wait, no they don’t. Apparently a ‘Done’ list is much better.

This post on the Harvard Business Review blog shuns lists because they are “setting you up for failure and frustration”.

Actually I think the best advice comes from Leo Babauta’s calm-inducing Zenhabits, with some simple tips on getting things done. Basically, take a deep breath, and start a small part of the task.

I feel better now.