Why I Ditched My Complicated To-Do List for a 'Might-Do' List

For years, my to-do list was my nemesis. It was a sprawling, multi-app, color-coded beast that was supposed to make me productive but instead just made me feel anxious. Every morning, I\'d open it and feel a wave of dread. The list of \'must-dos\' was always longer than the hours in the day, and I ended each evening feeling like a failure for not clearing it. It took me a long time to realize the tool wasn\'t the problem—the entire philosophy was.

The tyranny of the traditional to-do list

I think we\'ve all been taught that a good to-do list is comprehensive. We\'re told to capture everything, prioritize with complex matrices, and schedule tasks into every available slot in our calendar. I did all of that. I used systems, I followed gurus, and I tried every app you can imagine. The result was always the same: a perfectly organized list of things I would inevitably fail to complete. It created a constant, low-level stress. An undone task wasn\'t just a note; it was a personal failing, a reminder of my limitations.

My \'aha\' moment: The shift to a \'might-do\' list

The breakthrough came when I was feeling particularly burnt out. I looked at my list of 37 tasks for the day and just couldn\'t bring myself to start. In a moment of frustration, I archived the whole thing and opened a blank note. I titled it \'Might Do\'. I wrote down three things I felt I had the energy for right then. Not the most urgent, not the most important according to some system, but the ones that felt achievable. The sense of relief was immediate and profound. That\'s when I realized the power wasn\'t in committing to tasks, but in curating options.

How I structure my \'might-do\' list

My system now is incredibly simple. I have one master \'Might-Do\' list in a basic notes app. It\'s a brain dump of everything I could possibly work on—from big project steps to \'water the plants\'. It\'s intentionally messy. Here’s how I use it:

• It\'s a menu, not a mandate. I view this list as a restaurant menu. I\'m not going to order every dish. I\'m just going to pick what I\'m in the mood for.
• I pick my \'today\' items daily. Each morning, I look at my calendar for hard appointments, then I look at my \'Might-Do\' list. I choose just 1 to 3 items to move to a sticky note on my desktop. That\'s my *actual* to-do list for the day. It\'s small, manageable, and achievable.
• No complex categories. I used to waste hours categorizing tasks by project or context. Now, I just let it be a single list. My brain is smart enough to scan and find what\'s relevant. The friction of over-organizing was a huge part of my old problem.

The surprising benefits I discovered

Honestly, I thought this approach would make me less productive. I worried I\'d miss important things or just do the easy stuff. The opposite happened. By removing the pressure, I freed up so much mental energy. I\'m now more creative, more flexible, and—ironically—I get more meaningful work done. When a surprise task comes up, it doesn\'t derail my entire day because my day was never a rigid schedule to begin with. It\'s a framework of intention. This shift hasn\'t just changed how I work; it\'s made my work feel sustainable and, dare I say, enjoyable again.