(Originally published in Harvard Business Review, September 11, 2023
For several years, I’ve kept two to-do lists for work (one just wasn’t enough). One list contains tasks that require deep, focused work and demand a decent chunk of time. The other list is for quick and easy tasks — things that don’t require much brainpower. But because I tend to avoid administrative work, this second list builds up fast (as does my guilt for not crossing things off it).
People, like me, have continued to love and rely on to-do lists for the many benefits they offer. To-do lists can help you clarify what needs to get done, prioritize your work, and manage your time. Yet, there are many reasons why to-do lists don’t always work:
- They rely on guesstimates: Many of us tend to overload our to-do list because we are poor at estimating how much time a task will take to get done. In fact, only 17% of people can accurately determine how much time something will take. Consequently, we either end up picking things we think will take the least amount of time, or end up spending too much time on one task, leaving the rest unattended.
- They offer too many choices: Research shows that our brains can only handle about seven choices before it gets overwhelmed. But odds are, your to-do list has more than seven tasks on it. The result? We end up choosing not to choose (procrastination) or end up being dissatisfied with our choice.
- They can be overwhelming: One of the biggest problems with to-do lists is that instead of making us feel organized and on top of things, they can lead to the opposite feeling: frustration and overwhelm. Our to-do lists are never-ending, really. As soon as you tick off an item, another task magically appears. This leads to feelings of guilt (I didn’t work hard enough) and oftentimes, a sense of failure (I didn’t get enough done today).
Make Your To-Do List Work for You
John Zeratsky, who used to work at Google Ventures and co-wrote the bestselling books Sprint and Make Time, used to-do lists for much of his career. He even designed a couple of custom to-do list apps. He would put things on his to-do list and then work directly off it – because if something was on the list, it must be important. Over time, he realized that there were so many tiny items on his to-do list that he was glossing over the big-picture items. So he came up with a new way of conceptualizing his to-do list: renaming it as a might-do list!
“When it comes to things I have to do, I keep track of them on a might-do list. It’s really a list of things I might do some day,” Zeratsky told me on the How I Work podcast. “It might sound like a silly distinction, but for me, it’s an important perspective shift. When you put something on a to-do list, you are both making a record of it and committing your future self to doing it. But most of us choose the path of least resistance. So we pick things that might seem the quickest and everything else just piles up.”
Research shows that we intrinsically value activities we choose to do more than those we feel obligated to do. This is because having autonomy and control over our actions enhances motivation, while obligations and pressures reduce it.
In one particular study, this idea was explored further. The researchers asked participants to imagine visiting a supermarket with a friend. They were then told to purchase six products for this person. Three of these objects could be self-chosen (a mug, chocolate, and a pen) and their friend would pick the other three objects (a small figurine, candy, and a ruler). Two minutes later, participants completed a task that subtly assessed how they felt about these six objects. Researchers found that people were significantly more likely to value the objects they chose over the objects their friend chose, due to having the freedom of choice. Similarly, when we feel we have a choice over the tasks we complete, rather than feeling obligated to complete them, it leads to more positive outcomes.
In practice, once you have tasks on your might-do list, you can be intentional about choosing which one needs to be prioritized (the One Big Thing, as Zeratsky calls it) and block time on your calendar to get it done. Rather than being instinctive and having to choose between infinite possibilities on the to-do list, you’ve carefully thought about how you will spend your time that day.
The other benefit Zeratsky found in the might-do list is that it removed the daily pressure of tending to the little things. He now creates administrative time blocks on some days where he will work through his might-do list. Instead of dreading it, he started to enjoy these days because it meant that the smaller, less impactful tasks that were previously taking over his daily work could be conquered all in one go.
This simple act of renaming your to-do list as a might-do list shifts your mindset. It gives you permission to decide when and how you tackle those pesky routine tasks and chores. That flexibility is psychologically freeing and empowering. You go from feeling obligated to complete tasks to perceiving them as choices. This reduced pressure can improve your motivation and make completing work — especially the administrative type — more enjoyable.
