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The Power of the Done List

August 2, 2012 by I Done This Support 8 Comments

Well Done List Card

The Problem: To-Do Lists Don’t Work for Me.

To-do lists just don’t work for some people.

We may be more right-brained. Perhaps our working styles don’t mesh with more intricate prioritizing or the task list format. Whatever it is, we know that one productivity system does not fit all. 

Plus, a study by Amy Dalton and Stephen Spiller found that detailed planning works when you have one big to-do item, but the longer the list, the less powerful a tool it is to get stuff done.

For those of us who are unmoved by the to-do list (and the arguments of its most fervent disciples), we feel that they loom without spurring action, rebuke without encouragement. They don’t care about our circumstances or our moods. In fact, they don’t care about us at all, sitting there with items unchecked and uncrossed, coldly expectant. And in return, we don’t care about them. To-do lists can’t be effective when they are simultaneously discouraging and easy to ignore.

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Filed Under: Done List Tagged With: Intrinsic Motivation, Productivity, To-Do List

The Psychology of To-Do Lists

February 16, 2012 by I Done This Support Leave a Comment

The always wonderful Maria Popova at Brain Pickings delves into the psychology of to-do lists in her discussion of John Tierney and Roy F. Baumeister’s book, Willpower:  Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength.

She points to the authors’ discussion of the Zeigarnik effect, which explains why our brains continue to nag us about what we leave unfinished. Originally thought to be the mind’s way of making sure we get stuff done, recent research shows that this nagging is to make a specific, doable plan of action to get stuff done.

Fascinating! Have you read Willpower? Let us know what you think!

Filed Under: The Science of Productivity Tagged With: Psychology of Productivity, To-Do List

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