If You’re Using Your To-Do List the Way It Was Designed, You’re Using it Wrong

To-do lists are one of productivity’s oldest and simplest tools. Yet most people don’t use them correctly. This isn’t fully their fault. At least part of the blame goes to today’s to-do list apps. They push you to prioritize tasks in an overly simplistic way.

Most to-do lists make it easiest to prioritize tasks by due date and so most people organize this way. When entering a task, the due date field is very explicit and accessible. Many of the apps also include by default deadline-based folders like “Today” and “Next seven days” and make calendar views available. They are built around due dates.

Yet you shouldn’t