This post should really be titled 'How Not To Create a To-Do List'
I'm a firm believer in the GTD (Getting Things Done) school of thought, which addresses many, if not all, of these concerns .
Paradox of choice: You should never have a choice of when to do items. Instead, pick a time every day/week to organize your to-do list and figure out when things should be done, and in what order. This should be separate from the time that you're doing tasks. So when you reference your to-do list, the choice is always simple: 'Can I do the next item on the list right now or not?'. (In practice you bend this rule slightly - but only by a little bit... a lot less than most people think).
Heterogeneous complexity: See above. Also, write down time estimates for each task and time yourself.
Heterogenous Priority: To-do list items should be on your calendar. A calendar is a to-do list, and a to-do list is a calendar. If your two are separate, you'r doing it wrong (according to GTD). And if it's on your to-do list, it should be done today or not at all. If you didn't get to it, before immediately bumping it to tomorrow, ask yourself whether it really needs to be done, and whether it actually fits with your long-term goals.
Lack of context: GTD specifically recommends partitioning tasks by context.
Lack of commitment devices: Having the list pre-sorted (ie, sorted at a time separate from when you're actually 'doing work') addresses this somewhat. It's not a cure-all, but honestly, if you're having trouble committing yourself to do the tasks as you prioritized them last night, I can't see how you'd be any better off with no structured list guiding you.
As for that last element: Yes, you do need to learn how to say 'no', but if you say 'no' based on a careful, logical evaluation of your to-do list at a time when you're not doing work, you'll be making a much wiser judgement than if you say 'no' because you're feeling overwhelmed by all the things that you're keeping in your head.
"A calendar is a to-do list, and a to-do list is a calendar." Well, no, a calendar is an absolutely-have-to-do-at-that-specific-time list. I don't see how you could've gotten that idea from GTD, because David Allen recommends not using your calendar for todos that you'd like to have done today, but don't need to have done today. Conflating calendar and to do list will quickly lead to what dkarl calls the "Do this now or you're a bad person" phenomenon, and lead you to stop using todo lists altogether because they're so depressing.
The biggest win of todo lists for me (I use the GTD-esque Things) has been that it gives me some assurance that I've got everything that I have to do or want to do (even someday/maybe projects) written down and in one place, so it doesn't soak up cognitive energy throughout the day that would be better spent just doing things.
I'm a firm believer in the GTD (Getting Things Done) school of thought, which addresses many, if not all, of these concerns .
Paradox of choice: You should never have a choice of when to do items. Instead, pick a time every day/week to organize your to-do list and figure out when things should be done, and in what order. This should be separate from the time that you're doing tasks. So when you reference your to-do list, the choice is always simple: 'Can I do the next item on the list right now or not?'. (In practice you bend this rule slightly - but only by a little bit... a lot less than most people think).
Heterogeneous complexity: See above. Also, write down time estimates for each task and time yourself.
Heterogenous Priority: To-do list items should be on your calendar. A calendar is a to-do list, and a to-do list is a calendar. If your two are separate, you'r doing it wrong (according to GTD). And if it's on your to-do list, it should be done today or not at all. If you didn't get to it, before immediately bumping it to tomorrow, ask yourself whether it really needs to be done, and whether it actually fits with your long-term goals.
Lack of context: GTD specifically recommends partitioning tasks by context.
Lack of commitment devices: Having the list pre-sorted (ie, sorted at a time separate from when you're actually 'doing work') addresses this somewhat. It's not a cure-all, but honestly, if you're having trouble committing yourself to do the tasks as you prioritized them last night, I can't see how you'd be any better off with no structured list guiding you.
As for that last element: Yes, you do need to learn how to say 'no', but if you say 'no' based on a careful, logical evaluation of your to-do list at a time when you're not doing work, you'll be making a much wiser judgement than if you say 'no' because you're feeling overwhelmed by all the things that you're keeping in your head.