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May 24, 2005
To Do or not To Do. That is the existential question
Merlin Mann, who we suspect suffers from a particularly virulent strain of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - we're prepared to bet that as a baby, he insisted on putting on his own nappies, for instance - has observed that less disciplined persons fail to gallop through their To Do lists due to some access of existential angst.
Well-organised chaps like Merlin have of course filed all their existential angst under F, for Forget, and therefore do not have to be prompted to perform the following recommended routine:
- Print out your TODO list (alphabetically, if possible
- Read it over—beginning to end
- Go back and circle each item that makes you cringe, or that causes you some kind of existential angst
- Per cringe item, think honestly about why you’re freaked out about it. Seriously. What’s the hang-up? (Fear of failure? Dreading bad news? Angry you’re already way overdue?)
- Now, again, per cringe item, add a new TODO that will a) make the loathsome task less cringe-worthy, or b) just get the damned thing done
- Cross the original cringe items off your list
- Work immediately on the new, cringe-busting TODO
Bleeding Edge thinks this is an excellent idea. We would do it immediately, and not only that, we would sign up to Merlin's idea of doing it every Monday, without fail. Were it not for one single little problem. The thought of drawing up a To Do list makes us cringe.
Posted by cw at May 24, 2005 02:39 PM
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Comments
A box in a box in a box in a box in a box..en abyme.
Posted by: steff at May 24, 2005 10:50 PM
Well now, most evenings before leaving work I draw-up a list of tomorrows work priorities. And here's me thinking this was an efficient work practice. But it turns out I have OCD and am an existentialist to boot. Now who shall I read first, Dostoevsky, Nietzche?. Nah, Satre I think - I've always had a thing for Simone de Beauvoir!!!!!
Posted by: Anonymous at May 24, 2005 10:51 PM
Many people fail to appreciate the real value of TO DO lists: they can be made to work FOR YOU
When you finish writing the list, it looks so clear and simple that you suddenly feel that "it is all under control" and you can virtuously relax and do Sudoku puzzles for the rest of the day (or week).
The strong wish to avoid the worst items converts itself into a desire to immediately prefer to do several other - usually far less important - items on the list - or even off the list.
For instance - when confronted with a strong deadline to complete a report by tomorrow I find a sudden equal and opposite strong desire to sort out and catalogue my last ten years of newspaper and magazine cuttings, takeaway food menus etc - and maybe design a new database system to keep it all in order.
Posted by: anne at May 25, 2005 11:10 PM