This fixation on uncompleted tasks is called the Zeignarik effect. Research shows that the human brain is wired to fixate on all the stuff you need to get done and forget about the things you’ve already finished. A to-do list is a powerful tool for forgetting all the things you need to get done, at least temporarily. But that’s actually the opposite of what a to-do list should be. Maybe you look at to-do lists like homework - they’re just a stuffy obligation, a tedious reminder of all things the things that are weighing on you. Get addicted to that good feeling of mental clarity that comes from writing your tasks down. Learn to Cherish Your To-Do List Like It’s Candy Crush That was a long and very nerdy way of saying, you do not have to be born a “to-do list” person to make your to-do list work for you. If that’s you, then hopefully you’ll come away from this article with the productivity equivalent of a Ghostbuster proton pack to trap the negative energy that was your to-do list and turn it into something that leaves you feeling totally prepared to rock your day, every day. Those of us who want - at times desperately - to feel organized and in control, yet who somehow always manage to let a 50-item to-do list grow so ancient it becomes an actual ghost that haunts us in our sleep.

While there are some out there who self-identify as “to-do list people” (you know who you are), this article is for the rest of us mere mortals. It’s a list of chores and long overdue assignments, things that are so mundane and/or unpleasant we would willfully forget to do them if they weren’t written out in front of us.Īnd honestly, when you’re completely slammed, the idea of seeing everything on your plate all laid out in one place is a sure-fire way to inspire some creative yet thoroughly counterproductive avoidance behaviors. For some, just the idea of having a to-do list feels like a burden.

+todolist