If you want something done, do not write a to-do list

A criminal barrister turned writer and mother of four-year-old twins, Ruth Field has innumerable daily chores. But the self-styled “Grit Doctor” believes that to-do lists are a costly waste of time.

“They are another exercise in procrastination,” says the author of Get Your Sh!t Together. “You know what the things are that you need to do so why not just get on with them immediately rather than delaying it by writing them down? They also encourage us to focus on the insignificant things so we can avoid doing the really big thing that often never even makes it on to the list.”

When practising at the Bar, Ms Field says she had a Word document for each case that would include cross examination questions for a witness and notes for a closing speech, but that it was a lot more structured than a list. When she did use a list, it was for personal matters, such as calling her mother.

Technology has turned the to-do list into an apparently indispensable must-have. Apps and tools are marketed to suggest that without them, people’s lives will fall apart and their productivity flatline. So without a list, how does Ms Field prioritise, let alone remember what needs to be done? “I’d be lost without my diary so that is my concession to a list,” she says. “I have a good memory and I think keeping my list in my brain is good exercise for it”.

It is a relief, she adds, to no longer have visible evidence of all the things she has failed to do, which is what to-do lists often become. “Ditching to-do lists makes you prioritise what is actually important and to try to get it done without further delay,” she says. “Booking a dentist’s appointment will get done without you having to write it down.”

Dana Denis-Smith, founder and CEO of Obelisk Support, a legal services start-up, also chose to dump to-do lists for work. “There was always stuff left undone because other things needed to be prioritised or dealt with quicker, so there was a constant revolving list that wasn’t much use,” she explains. “I did not find they made me more productive or helped me achieve more.”

Like Ms Field, Ms Denis-Smith uses a diary to keep track of tasks. “I ensure that all actions are either allocated a slot as soon as they come in or I put a timeframe on them.” She also uses an app called Timeful, which combines fixed commitments with a wishlist of things that you want to do, and from which you can pick and choose should you find yourself with time on your hands.

Ms Denis-Smith admits to using to-do lists for managing household chores and shopping but believes that when it comes to business, they are just a clever way of shirking while feeling as though you are doing something useful. She says they are unhelpful because they seem to allocate equal importance to tasks of varying significance.

“Productivity is all about being responsive, not wasting time on things that will only add marginal improvement to my performance,” she says.

Writing, managing and prettifying to-do lists is one of them.

workingsmarter@ft.com