How long does all of that list management take on Saturday morning?
Edit: In your first hour, you spend 45 minutes writing and rewriting task lists, then spend 15 minutes doing the first tasks on your list? Instead of spending all of that time writing and rewriting the list, why not just do those first tasks? You wouldn't have needed to write and rewrite them.
I believe todo lists give a person the sensation of accomplishment without actually requiring anything get done. It's productivity porn at its worst.
> 45 minutes writing and rewriting task lists, then spend 15 minutes ....
Meh. My post was a generalization and I don't see the benefit of spending too much time (ha) arguing over the high-level time slots I put on the EXAMPLE. Maybe it's 15 minutes, maybe it is 5 minutes... really that's not all that important.
For me they are quick to do and give me a set of goals and I finish my products faster because of it. At the same time I'm hitting my long term and family goals. It's a win for me.
His times were examples, not generalizations, but you spend that time anyway no matter what method you choose, even if your choice is no method at all. Inevitably you will have to think about desired outcomes, next-actions to reach those goals, and priorities. Why not externalize that thinking so you only have to do it once, and batch process it for efficiency?
When you choose “no system”, you're simply deciding to keep those things to do in your head, mentally reiterate and evaluate those lists, and reprioritize them throughout the day. It's true whether you think about it in those terms or not. How that could possibly be more efficient than using an external system (pen and paper) to capture that work is beyond me.
Edit: In your first hour, you spend 45 minutes writing and rewriting task lists, then spend 15 minutes doing the first tasks on your list? Instead of spending all of that time writing and rewriting the list, why not just do those first tasks? You wouldn't have needed to write and rewrite them.
I believe todo lists give a person the sensation of accomplishment without actually requiring anything get done. It's productivity porn at its worst.