depressing list full of items whose context you’ve forgotten
It really helps to word todo items properly, as complete sentences. For example, instead of “Widget!!!!”, you should use “Decide which Widget to buy.” I often add more context or next actions as I process the task, so it may gradually evolve into “Decide which Widget to buy. Red ones seem to be better. Bob may know more—call him.”
It’s more about forgetting why it was supposed to be so important to buy a Widget to begin with, given that the item has sat inactive in the todo list for weeks with no widgetlessness-related catastrophes ensuing.
Then it’s a perfect candidate for garbage collection. I just drop items like this, or, if an item has accumulated too much contextual info I don’t want to lose, I postpone it for a month or so and decide later, or move it to non-actionable notes.
It really helps to word todo items properly, as complete sentences. For example, instead of “Widget!!!!”, you should use “Decide which Widget to buy.” I often add more context or next actions as I process the task, so it may gradually evolve into “Decide which Widget to buy. Red ones seem to be better. Bob may know more—call him.”
It’s more about forgetting why it was supposed to be so important to buy a Widget to begin with, given that the item has sat inactive in the todo list for weeks with no widgetlessness-related catastrophes ensuing.
Then it’s a perfect candidate for garbage collection. I just drop items like this, or, if an item has accumulated too much contextual info I don’t want to lose, I postpone it for a month or so and decide later, or move it to non-actionable notes.