Feed the cat, take the bins out, listen to this podcast. From the timeless paper and pen to the more recent digital calendar or kanban board, to-do lists - whatever their form - are an attempt to remove chaos and inertia from our lives. But do they work?

In this week’s podcast, we discuss the efficacy of to-do lists. We try to ascertain whether there is an optimal number of things that should go on a to-do list, delve into the great irony that to-do lists are rarely ever completed and attempt to discover if there is something fundamental about writing lists in the first place. We discuss the birth of early forms of writing, the psychological phenomenon known as the Zeigarnik effect and why studies show that producing a to-do list may bring you closer to achieving your goals. Finally, we disclose some of the things we just can’t seem to cross off our own to-do lists.

A few things we mentioned in this podcast:

- The Zeigarnik Effect https://www.psychologistworld.com/memory/zeigarnik-effect-interruptions-memory

- The Cognitive Effect of Making Plans https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21688924/

- Going on Holiday? Leave the ‘To Do’ List at Home https://www.ft.com/content/06ffe40d-fdcc-4be8-b536-810cedce7ed1

- The Psychology of the To-Do List – Why Your Brain Loves Ordered Tasks

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/may/10/the-psychology-of-the-to-do-list-why-your-brain-loves-ordered-tasks

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