1. If you find that you’re reluctant to permanently give up on to-do list items, “deprioritize” them instead

I hate the idea of deciding that something on my to-do list isn’t that important, and then deleting it off my to-do list without actually doing it. Because once it's off my to-do list, then quite possibly I’ll never think about it again. And what if it's actually worth doing? Or what if my priorities will change such that it will be worth doing at some point in the future? Gahh!

On the other hand, if I never delete anything off my to-do list, it will grow to infinity.

The solution I’ve settled on is a priority-categorized to-do list, using a kanban-style online tool (e.g. Trello). The left couple columns (“lists”) are very active—i.e., to-do list items that I might plausibly do today or tomorrow, with different columns for different contexts [...]

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Outline:

(00:04) 1. If you find that you’re reluctant to permanently give up on to-do list items, “deprioritize” them instead

(02:12) 2. If you find that you’re reluctant to delete (or heavily edit) a piece of text / slide that you worked hard on, copy it into a “graveyard” first

(03:23) 3. If you find that you’re reluctant to throw out papers, make it fast and easy to file them

(05:16) 4. If you find that you’re reluctant to delete computer files / emails, don’t empty the trash

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First published:
April 20th, 2024

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ZN6L5ysKd35FEyGr6/a-couple-productivity-tips-for-overthinkers

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

“A couple productivity tips for overthinkers” by Steven Byrnes

LessWrong (30+ Karma)