The Problem with To do List Apps

To do list Apps are great, or so they seem. To do list Apps help us keep things organized but freeing our brain from the mental clutter of juggling too many tasks at once. Since using Tick Tick, the new to do list app developed by __, I've noticed some changes in the way I operate. I'm here to share some of these thoughts with you.

The basic interface of most to do list apps is simple: there's a place where you enter the things on your to do list, and a space that shows the items on that list. There's usually also some form of list-organization on the left hand side, where you can keep track of different to do list, corresponding to different projects, all at the same time.

To do list apps usually advocate for an upbeat, straight-forward work ethic of "getting things done". Metrics like "tasks done per day" or tools like the "pomodoro timer" are all about completing an unspecified, fill-in-the-blank type of "work". While some artists describe their creative process as casually messing around, and while some scientists describing their work as constantly exploring and testing new ideas, the to do list ethic is biased towards certainty: one must know exactly what one ought to do on a particular time to be "productive".

To do list apps are also biased towards "doing" instead of "not doing". Take the design of the "shopping cart" in most grocery stores or online shopping as an example, shopping carts allow you to change your mind by deleting an item or putting it in your wish list. Though you can certainly delete tasks on to do list apps, this can be somewhat discouraging since "not doing something" is not rewarded the same way as "doing something", even if the former can be just as valuable for the individual. Shopping carts rewards you for not buying things by showing you a smaller bill, signaling the resource saved by your decision to do nothing.

Lastly, to do list apps, by design, are great for remembering things, but terrible for forgetting things. Not every idea is a good idea, and sometimes bad ideas are best forgotten than actively deleted. This is not the case with todo lists. Todo list does not delete bad ideas, but keep them there as "things undone", forcing you to think through all the bad ideas you've added to your to do list.

For what it's worth, to do lists are great when you have a set of certain goals that needs to be done. They're just bad for more creative work.