| The problems that the author mentions are behavioral problems not problems with to do lists in general. Nothing is stopping someone from adding priority, context, etc. To do lists in their simplest form are just a way to get it out of your brain and in a real-world format so you don't forget them. It's actually a really interesting time for people building software in this space: http://alexdschiff.com/post/58069189811/chaos-in-consumer-pr.... Lots of shut downs, fundraises, acquisitions and chaos that is consolidating user bases in one of the most fragmented industries around. I'm writing an essay on the subject right now, and I think the biggest problems with productivity software come down to these three things: 1) It's not just your to do list. Most tools try to make arbitrary distinctions between what is a "to do" vs. what is not when the way that most people operate — and this is often a shocker to people that are into productivity — is just "I need to write SOME thought down for SOME reason LATER." For example, people might make a "note" that is just "Local Natives" - the name of a band. But isn't that representative of a task, "Check out Local Natives"? The lines are blurry, and while most people keep track of tasks in some way, they don't really "do" task management consciously. 2) No one is getting social right. On the one hand, there's Evernote, which deliberately ignores social, and then there's email, which is a great way to send things to people but a terrible way to keep track of things for the recipient. In the middle there are collaboration tools, but any project manager can tell you getting everyone to adopt a new system is heinous. IMO, you need to start with and build around the individual first (like Evernote), but tightly integrate a social layer to get those notes and to do's to other people on top of it. 3) Now what? The author makes an important point about context. Note-taking apps and to do lists have incredibly rich data about people that can be leveraged to actually help deliver that context and guide people through the next step. The next generation of productivity software will be less about helping people stay organized and more about actually helping them execute and get things done. Disclaimer: I'm the co-founder and CEO of a company in this space called Fetchnotes. We're gearing up to release a new version with the above 3 things at the heart of our approach. If you're interested, get in touch: alex(at)fetchnotes(dot)com. |