Why We Continue to Rely on (and Love) To-Do Lists

Ever wondered why to-do lists are so irresistible? They're more than just organizational tools. They're a testament to our need for order, a love letter to efficiency. Let's delve into the psychology behind our enduring affection for these simple, yet powerful, productivity aids.

Once we commit to a specific plan of action to complete a task, we tend to think less about that task

The drive to attain our goal is suspended for the time being (or until we actually have to execute our plan)

• When we create a roadmap to help us reach a goal, we are more likely to attain it and are likely to focus better on other areas of our work or lives.

Two ways that making a plan to complete a task can help alleviate anxiety

Externalizing the task in some way helps reduce stress

• Making a plan forces us to solve the problem – we have to figure out what actions we need to take to complete the task and how and when to enact them

Ways to manage this

Use to-do lists

• Establish routines so that the work you’re doing becomes habitual and feels effortless
• Motivate and inspire yourself
• Do what you love, love what you do
• Remind yourself why the things you’re doing are important or valuable
• Plan-making is only one tool, alongside so many others, of creating habits
• The more tools you have the better!

Psychology behind to-do lists

The dopamine high of crossing items off

• With the mountain of tasks we have to do each day, we can’t solely rely on our ability to remember them.
• When we write information down, or pass information along to another person, or transfer our list to some external space, we feel relieved from the need to hold onto it mentally.

Do to-do lists work?

There are many reasons to suspect they are effective, even if just as a way to keep us aware of our goals

• One downside is that they do not go far enough toward committing us to doing the work
• If we came up with a plan to specify what actions we need to take and when those actions need to be taken, that would minimize the odds of our to-dos lists becoming graveyards of unfinished items

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