In fact, he claims it can help you live like a rock star.

In his book, the Organised Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload, Daniel J Levitin makes it sound very sexy indeed. They are joined by the emails we send our future selves in a cold sweat at midnight, the calendar reminders that coo and vibrate throughout the day and the tattered paper shopping list we somehow still have pinned to the fridge.Īccording to experts in cognition, mastering to-do lists has never been more important than in the digital era. There are plenty of quirky offerings, too – Carrot, “the to-do list with a personality”, “hilariously” berates and cajoles you into getting things done – although dedicated to-do apps are just the beginning. One of the most popular on Android, ColorNote Notepad, has been downloaded more than 80m times since its 2009 launch. Since June 2012, every Apple device running iOS 5 or above – of which there are around 1bn worldwide – comes with the Reminders app. It seems a shame, then, that these little paper peculiarities are heading for extinction, as a raft of digital alternatives take their place – most of which can be found on your smartphone.

And if yours is full of hysterical punctuation and self-chastisement (“Do NOT forget the milk AGAIN!!!!!!”), it might be time to talk to a therapist. Neatly written on a pristine piece of paper? A vision of self-control and restraint. Illegible handwriting and multiple crossings-out? Looks as though life is spilling over at the edges. I t’s funny how to-do lists take on the characteristics of their owners.

I need to make a to do list