Fast Company | Business + Innovation: While Umberto Eco might have been right when he said that the list allows us to make infinity comprehensible, we still can't quite comprehend why we keep using lists in the same exact way: written in a line from the upper left corner and partly crossed out by the end of the day.
So how can we make our lists more effective? We've already dug into how (rightly applied) technology can leverage your listing. What we need, then, is a list-tip that's a tad more novel, a touch more weird. We need to get miscellaneous, in other words.
13 comments:
I disagree with almost everything this article has to say. While these tips might when making a list in a brain-storming session, I highly doubt that they will work for me with my personal to-do list. Arranging your to-do list in a unique way (i.e, a mind-mapping to-do list as the article suggests, or written in a unique shape) will detract from the point of the list: getting things done. If your list is arranged in any manner other than reading from left to right and then wrapping from top to bottom, as we all read in the english language, it's going to take more time to read the list. Isn't the point of the to-do list to keep track of all of the things you need to do in order to make your time more efficient? How will a list be more efficient if it takes longer to read and understand?
I also disagree with the point that lists should be made in groups of seven. If you're trying to recall all of the items on your list, the article says seven is the best number to use. However, there have been multiple scientific studies that show that the human brain can only ever hold onto roughly 5 ideas at any given moment. Your to-do list won't be something as simple as a string of numbers, letters, or single words. It will be an item, or possibly a concept that you will be needing to remember. Therefore, five is probably a better number to go with if you're going to be breaking up your list that way.
These tips might work for unstructured lists, such as brain mapping in a brain-storming session, but when it comes to to-do lists, you want to organize the information in such a way that will be most efficient. After all, your list is a tool that is meant to help you accomplish your goals in the most effective way possible.
I find this article to be a bit too vague. It pretty much ignores the fact that lists have varying functions. I agree that laying lists out in different ways can help to foster the creation of ideas and the formation of relationships between thoughts, but I don't know that a mind-mapping format works for many kinds of lists. That being said, I disagree with Jess' point that a to-do list needs to be a strictly structured, organized list that reads from left to right. That works for you, Jess, which is great, but that doesn't mean that a less-linear to-do list won't work for other people. I sometimes get annoyed when writing linear lists because, in a way, they can come across as automatically assigning priority to the tasks because of the order they are listed in. I like writing lists that are more spread out and less linear because that format forces me to look over the whole list and figure out, in the moment when I decide to begin working on a task on the list, what the priorities need to be. Sure, you could do this with a linear list, but I find it easier to do with information that hasn't already been structured linearly. While I believe this article could use more concrete examples of the application of its ideas, I also believe that there is merit in the ideas that are presented, and that there is productivity to be found in making "weird" lists.
Seems like there is a lot of overlap between this list on "how to list" and one of the ones that was around last week. Still very good advice. I will say that I have never seen mind mapping work in a really effective way. In that i have never seen it actually help someone or a group of people accomplish a task with any less burden on the mind or ease of execution. Mind Mapping seems like it takes more effort than it relives.
I agree with Shannon that this article is a bit too vague to be useful. With that said, I was intrigued by the idea of mapping out lists in a non-linear way. While creating linear lists may work best for some people or certain situations, they definitely do not work for everyone. For example, many of my friends who are more artistic or creative find that linear lists do not work for them. Personally, I usually find linear lists most effective for me. However, there are definitely times when I make my lists less linear. I think that to-do lists often work best when organized linearly, since they allow the list-maker to prioritize on paper. Creating linear lists can also allow someone to really evaluate the amount of work that they need to complete. However, I see how creating lists in this way can be daunting for some people. Overall, I think that list-making is a personal choice for everyone. While some people may be very list-oriented, and may be very attached to creating their lists in a linear way, others may not find list making effective for them, and may need to find different ways to keep track of their responsibilities or tasks.
I agree with much of what is said above. Personally, I like linear lists. I often arrange them by what comes to mind first, and that by default usually has to do with that work I have due for my first class on Mondays or it has to do with what is most jarring at the moment. While mind-mapping might be good for some instances like brainstorming, I don't think linear lists hurt in a brainstorming session either. And putting lists in units of seven is great, but if I have ten things to do is there a way to best remember the remaining three tasks? Also, I don't think the author is very clear about "weirder" and how weirder can make for better lists, though I'm intrigued to find out what they meant.
I personally found this article too vague to be incredibly useful, but I did however like the ideas that this article presented. I have found a type of list making that works really well for me and I don't feel like I want to change how I make them quite yet, but the ideas of mind-mapping to do lists is something that I think would be cool to try.
I found that these tips would work for certain types of people better than others. I think that the way the my mind works would not work well with mind mapping techniques if they were used for to-do lists. That would probably be worse then being unorganized...
In my mind, a to-do list is a record of tasks that need to be accomplished. There are two steps to making one, coming up with tasks to do and recording them. I could see where the strategies in this article could be helpful for step one, but in order to make sure nothing gets lost or confused, I at least need a very structured, linear list.
However, the only time the article mentions its strategies in connection with a to-do list is in the last sentence. I think the point of the article may be about other kinds of lists. In that case, it describes pretty well the process of brainstorming and idea generation, which will often come up with more fruitful ideas than traditional list-making methods.
While the article may be vague, it's at least thought provoking. I've tried countless ways to keep myself organized, with different lists in different place, written different ways...hand written, typed, in apps...and I still haven't figured out what method is the "best" for me. But those are almost always in some linear form, so maybe a "mind-mapping" type list would be useful. Not so sure...
I actually learned about this last year when I was an archi. Our professor taught us about Mind-mapping and the funny thing is, it works and I still don't do it. I always make those stupid linear lists that I know aren't going to work. I guess it's because I keep thinking that it's more organized and that it will keep me more organized. But my mind doesn't work like that at all. In fact, I can't even think in order. My mind has a tendency to think along a web where I when I hear, see, or do one thing, around 7 (using the number in the article) seemingly random things come to mind because I created a web of connections with everything. I am also a more visual person, so my notes are never really linear either. I started using sketch books as notebooks because I like that they don't have lines, they allow me to not only doodle as I take notes, but create interesting forms around my notes to separate subjects/topics.
I can see how this might not work for everyone, because unlike the article said, some people do think linearly. It's all really personal preference.
I'm a really big fan of lists personally, but I'm not sure about the methods this article recommends. Some of the ideas make sense as memory tricks, but that isn't really what making lists are for, at least in a to-do list sense. The point of writing the list down is so that you don't have to memorize it.
It also seems like a person may end up spending too much time on creating these lists. As it is, I sometimes feel like making a list can be an excuse to put off actually starting the work.
I was interested in the idea of a non-linear list, but I've never been a big fan of the mind-mapping format. To me it just feels messy and disorganized. I liked the idea behind this article, but they're actual advice wasn't really for me.
I can't exactly imagine why those things would help someone be more productive. I actually see most of them to be great ways to procrastinate, I think most people have hit the nail on the head when they say that the article is a bit too vague. These might be really great ideas, but the way they've been described, there's much left to interpretation and therefore a lot to be misinterpreted. I may try some of these just to see if they work.
Wow, quite a few people have responded with some fairly extreme reactions and feelings to this article. And I really just want to say that this article is showing people different ways to make lists. That's all. And really, it's not even different ways to make lists, it's just different techniques to consider when structuring and processing the content your generating to keep organized. And quite frankly you don't even have to make lists. Lists are just a tool that people use to keep track of information so that they can process said information and react accordingly with either fulfilling a task seeking more information. Either way there is no right or wrong way to make a list. It varies from person to person, and clearly because we as human beings are so different, there can be no standardized way to organize ones self. Maybe consider a new way or create lists or just keep doing what you're doing. Or don't make lists at all and use carrier pigeons. Just do what works for you and keeps you on track.
Personally, I find that lists are just a tool for writing things down that you need to get done. I’m not sure that arranging list items into groups of seven, or in a strange cloud diagram will actually make my work any more productive.
Specifically for writing things in groups of seven, the article indicates “Scientists are finding that's the number our neurons really dig. So if you want to remember your list, stick to a seven.” Isn’t the point of writing something down in a list that I don’t have to remember what it is?
At what point does making the list start to take longer than the items on the list? I don’t know, but this article surely shows a way for that to be possible
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