Task list

For information about the to-do lists used in Wikipedia, see [To-do list].

Palm OS-based task list application

A task list (also to-do list) is a list of tasks to be completed, such as chores or steps toward completing a project. It is an inventory tool that serves as an alternative to memory.

Task lists are used in self-management, grocery lists, business management, project management, and software development. It may involve more than one list.

When you accomplish one of the items on a task list, you check it off or cross it off. The traditional method is to write these on a piece of paper with a pen or pencil, usually on a note pad or clip-board. Numerous software equivalents are now available, and many popular e-mail clients include task list applications, as do most PDAs.

Contents

1 Task list organization
2 Software applications
3 Caveats

3.1 Dwelling on the lists
3.2 Rigid adherance

4 See also
5 References
6 Further reading

Task list organization

Task lists are often tiered. The simplest tiered system includes a general to-do list (or task-holding file) to record all the tasks the person needs to accomplish, and a daily to-do list which is created each day by transferring tasks from the general to-do list.

Task lists are often prioritized:

One method of organizing a general to-do list is the ABC method^{[#endnote_Dyslexia]}. With this approach, the list is divided into three sections, labelled A, B, and C, containg tasks that need to be done within a day, a week, and a month, respectively.

To prioritize a daily task list, one either records the tasks in the order of highest priority, or assigns them a number after they are listed ("1" for highest priority, "2" for second highest priority, etc.) which indicates in which order to execute the tasks. The latter method is generally faster, allowing the tasks to recorded more quickly.

Software applications

Modern task list applications may have built-in task hierarchy (tasks are composed of subtasks which again may contain subtasks), may support multiple methods of filtering and ordering the list of tasks, and may allow to associate arbitrarily long notes for each task.

Task list applications may be thought as lightweight personal information manager or project management software.

Task list is also a synonym for process list i.e. the list of program instances (processes) the computer is currently executing.

Caveats

Dwelling on the lists

According to Sandberg^{[#endnote_Sandberg]}, task lists "aren't the key to productivity [that] they're cracked up to be". He reports an estimated "30% of listers spend more time managing their lists than [they do] completing what's on them".

This could be caused by procrastination: by prolonging the planning activity, the individual avoids the tasks he should be doing by creating the illusion that he's still necessarily preparing for them. This is akin to analysis paralysis. As with any activity, there's a point of diminishing returns. For a task system to be efficient and effective, the user must recognize this, conquer his or her procrastination, and focus on completing the tasks.

Rigid adherance

Hendrickson asserts^{[#endnote_Hendrickson]} that rigid adherence to task lists can create a "tyranny of the to-do list" that forces one to "waste time on unimportant activities".

Again, the point of diminishing returns applies here too, but toward the size of the task. Some level of detail must be taken for granted for a task system to work. Rather than put "clean the kitchen", "clean the bedroom", and "clean the bathroom", it is more efficient to put "housekeeping" and save time spent writing and reduce the system's administrative load (each task entered into the system generates a cost in time and effort to manage it, aside from the execution of the task).

Listing routine tasks wastes time. If you are in the habit of brushing your teeth every day, then there is no reason to put it down on the task list. The same goes for getting out of bed, fixing meals, etc. If you need to track routine tasks, then a standard list or chart may be useful, to avoid the procedure of manually listing these items over and over.

To remain flexible, a task system must allow adaptation, in the form of rescheduling in the face of unexpected problems and opportunities, to save time spent on irrelevant or less than optimal tasks.

To avoid getting stuck in a wasteful pattern, the task system should also include regular (monthly, semi-annual, and annual) planning and system-evaluation sessions, to weed out inefficiencies and ensure the user is headed in the direction he or she truly desires.

If some time is not regularly spent on achieving long-range goals, the individual may get stuck in a perpetual holding pattern on short-term plans, like staying at a particular job much longer than originally planned.

References

↑ — a report on to-do lists and the people who make them and use them
↑ — ABC lists and tips for dyslexic students on how to manage to-do lists
↑ — an anecdotal discussion of how to-do lists can be tyrannical