To-do lists are ruining your life
2025-11-22 · Short · Ali · recording, 1:29 · watch on YouTube
Topic: Productivity and time · mode: Explanation and tutorial
In a Short, Ali says to-do lists never run out of space although our capacity is finite, so he keeps a master to-do list only so as not to forget things, does one main thing each day (his daily adventure) first, and treats the rest as a could-do list.
What is said
The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).
00:00:00 — Why to-do lists never run out of space; the daily adventure first, then the master list as a could-do list
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★★★ Ali says the problem with to-do lists is that they never run out of space: we do not have infinite capacity to get things done, yet the structure of a to-do list invites you to keep adding to it. — 00:00:22
“they never run out of space”
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★★ Ali keeps a master to-do list only so he does not forget things, sets himself one main thing each day (his daily adventure) and looks at the master list only once that is done. — 00:00:38 · daily adventure
- ★★ Ali treats his master to-do list as a could-do or might-do list: things he might want to do at some point, not things he has to do. — 00:00:57
- ★★ Ali argues that, unless physically coerced, you choose everything you do because you would rather not deal with the downsides of not doing it, so a to-do list can be reframed as things you choose to do rather than should do. — 00:01:08
Threads in this video
- refine · Should you run your work from a to-do list? — Ali says the problem with to-do lists is that they never run out of space: we do not have infinite capacity to get things done, yet the structure of a to-do list invites you to keep adding to it. (00:00:22)
Mentioned
Central: might-do list
Also: daily adventure
Also centred on might-do list: How I Organize My Life - The "LAZI" Productivity System
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