How many things should be on a daily to-do list?

Three to five real ones. Not because it's a rule, but because that's what most people actually finish on a normal day. Small stuff that takes two minutes doesn't need to be on there at all.

What do I do with everything I didn't finish?

Give each one a new day on purpose, rather than letting it roll onto tomorrow by itself. If something rolls three times, that's the list telling you it isn't going to happen, and you should either book real time for it or drop it.

Should I make the list the night before?

You can, and some people find it helps them stop thinking about work. It matters less than how many things go on it. Better still, put dates on things when you write them down, and then there's no list to make in the morning.

Do I need to rank things by priority?

Usually not. Dates do the ranking for you, since a thing due today outranks a thing due Friday. Priority flags are one more decision on every task, and most people stop using them after a month anyway.

What actually belongs on today's list

Monday morning, coffee, and you write down eighteen things. It feels great for about nine minutes.

Then Wednesday shows up with nine of them still sitting there, and you start skimming past the list instead of reading it. That's the beginning of the end for most daily lists, and it has nothing to do with willpower.

The Monday list nobody finishes

Nobody writes a daily list for the day they're going to have. They write it for the day they wish they'd have, where nothing goes wrong and no one calls.

So eighteen items go down. Then a meeting runs long, something breaks, and you get four of them done. Four is a decent day, but the list says you failed, and the list is the thing you look at.

Why a long list stops working

A list you can't finish teaches you to ignore it, and it only takes a couple of weeks. Once half the items are always sitting there, your eyes learn to slide past that half, which means the real thing hiding in the middle gets skipped too.

And then you start keeping the important stuff in your head again, because at least your head only holds four things. That's usually the point where somebody says the app stopped working for them¹.

What survives a real Tuesday

Look back at a normal week and count what you actually finished on a normal day. For most people it's three to five things that took real effort, plus a pile of small stuff that never made any list.

So write down three to five. Not as a rule someone made up, but because that's what your Tuesdays have been telling you for years. A short list you finish is worth more than a long one you sort through, because you end the day believing it.

Give the rest a date that isn't today

The other thirteen things are real, they're just not today's problem. So put a day on each one and let them leave.

This only works if writing the date is easy. If it means a calendar popping up and you picking a square, you won't bother, and everything stays on today by default. Say it the way you'd say it out loud instead: thursday, next tuesday, the 15th. Then Thursday arrives and the task comes back on its own, which is the entire point of a due date².

How tomorrow's list makes itself

Do that for a week and you stop writing a daily list at all. You just look at what came due, and it's short, because you spread it out yourself last week.

The stuff you didn't get to yesterday doesn't quietly pile onto today either. You give it a new day, out loud, as a decision. It takes two seconds and it keeps the list honest.

The best daily list is the one you didn't have to write.

Frequently asked questions

How many things should be on a daily to-do list?: Three to five real ones. Not because it's a rule, but because that's what most people actually finish on a normal day. Small stuff that takes two minutes doesn't need to be on there at all.
What do I do with everything I didn't finish?: Give each one a new day on purpose, rather than letting it roll onto tomorrow by itself. If something rolls three times, that's the list telling you it isn't going to happen, and you should either book real time for it or drop it.
Should I make the list the night before?: You can, and some people find it helps them stop thinking about work. It matters less than how many things go on it. Better still, put dates on things when you write them down, and then there's no list to make in the morning.
Do I need to rank things by priority?: Usually not. Dates do the ranking for you, since a thing due today outranks a thing due Friday. Priority flags are one more decision on every task, and most people stop using them after a month anyway.

Footnotes

Why a simple to-do list beats a fancy one why sorting a list feels like progress and mostly is not. ↩
How to pick a to-do list app how to test whether saving a date is easy before you commit. ↩