Member-only story
How to use a To-Do List WITHOUT the Overwhelm
To-do lists are broken.
There are always unfinished tasks, you do not know when to do all of them, but you feel that they should be done right now. Or when you do finish all the tasks on your to-do list but feel even worse because you do not know what to do next ( #highconscientiousnessproblems).
For all of us ambitious people who want to be productive, this is a daily struggle.
But I have finally found a solution to all of this.
And no, it’s not about eliminating your to-do list altogether, contrary to popular advice.
Why removing to-do lists does not work (practically speaking)
The most common solution, proposed by experts like Peter Drucker, Cal Newport, and Nir Eyal, is to stop using to-do lists and use the calendar instead. Map out the entire day with the tasks you want to complete at specific times, and then feel good when the evening comes.
Yes, that is a good solution. I use the calendar a lot myself, and it does wonders for productivity. But there are these tasks that do not necessarily match the calendar, at least not so easily.
What do I mean by that?
