We all have a daily list of things we should do. I like to keep it in the same place I evaluate the rest of my use of time. I had been trying to manage to-dos using a project perspective but found this insufficiently nimble as it was generally literally a list. While migrating my notes from FAKRA to VACAR, I realized that both the effort and project perspectives overlooked this important aspect of daily life - ‘to-dos.‘
To begin with, let’s characterize/differentiate efforts, projects and to dos. Nick Milo introduced ‘Efforts’ in his Ideaverse which can be investigated here
| Project | Effort |
|---|---|
| a set of defined tasks | loosely defined exertion |
| task sequence | often its the exertion not the order |
| deadlines | only loosely defined |
| a defined endpoint | not always sure what the end looks like |
Sometimes my to-dos were a list of places I needed to go while I was out. Other times it was something that needed to be done by the end of the month (renew a subscription. Sometimes a calendar reminder was sufficient, other times there needed to be some thought and planning captured. However I always wanted a list of them with me. I tried to understand how to-dos related to projects and efforts:
| Project | Effort | To-Do |
|---|---|---|
| a set of defined tasks | loosely defined exertion | a single task |
| task sequence | often its the exertion not the order | just do it |
| deadlines | only loosely defined | loose deadlines, sometimes |
| a defined endpoint | not always sure what the end looks like | a definable enpoint |
So I now have three sub-types of ‘Activities’: Projects, Efforts and To-Dos.
- Efforts help me convert ideas in knowledge or content
- Project help me manage activities with a number of steps that must be coordinated (tasks)
- To Dos allow me to manage one-off actions
I believe the technology will support managing to-dos like efforts so I am giving it a try. This is an upgrade (or at least a change) to my previous attempt captured here.
(2023-11-20)