In Defense of a Paper To-Do List (and How to Do it Right)

To-do list should keep us organized. but it is not the truth. On the contrary, using To-do list to manage your life will lead to more distractions, not less. To understand why, it is important to understand what is "distraction" and what is really "distraction".

Distraction is any action that takes us away from what we intend to do. The opposite of distraction is not "focus," but "traction." Both words come from the same Latin root "trahere", which means "to pull." Both words also end with the same six-letter word "action", reminding us that "traction" and "distraction" are actions we decide to take, not things that happen to us randomly.

It is important to understand the difference between traction and distraction. According to this definition, we cannot call something a distraction unless we know what it distracts us. Therefore, we cannot say that we are distracted unless we define in advance what our traction is at that moment.

Whether something is distraction or traction has little to do with the event itself. On the contrary, what distinguishes the two is a prior consideration.

Playing video games or watching TV can be a traction, provided that this is what you plan to do with your time. Conversely, if something is not something you promised to do during this time, then even doing a task that most people would praise as "productive" may distract you, which is terrible.

When I use to-do list to manage my day, I start to tick tasks in the morning, thinking that I have reached my goal. I didn't realize that I was letting my to-do list lead me in the direction of distraction, preventing me from achieving my goals.

To-do list distracts us from simple or urgent tasks, while ignoring the really important work. We are pulled off the right track by the most harmful form of distraction, the way we succumb to it without knowing it. In the name of completing tasks, we ran faster and faster without realizing that we were running in the wrong direction.

"I must do it tomorrow." We said to ourselves. But of course, with the bad to-do list system unchanged, we will repeat the same hopeless steps the next day.

It wasn't until the deadline was approaching that we realized that if we were to focus on important projects, we could have done better and could avoid this heavy pressure. Instead, we let the trivial tasks on the to-do list distract us. These tasks give us a deceptive feeling and make us feel like we are doing something to do.

Finally, and perhaps the most annoying, is the impact of to-do lists on our leisure time. I call this phenomenon "to-do list tyranny."

The tyrant is the "rule and oppressive ruler." The tyrant made his subjects do things against their wishes and made people fearful. Well, maybe I am exaggerating for theatrical effect, after all, no one has been beheaded for defying their To-do list. However, To-do list makes us lose our minds in other ways. In other words, it occupies our minds like a hostile army, stresses us, and deprives us of the joy of life.

Before I launched a coup on my to-do list, those unfinished tasks often invaded my mind and leisure time. When I was sitting with my family and having a pleasant dinner, I started to think about all the unfinished things on my to-do list.