Why To-Do Lists Fail (21,655 Tasks of Data)
TL;DR. I counted every task in Loggd. Across 21,655 one-off tasks from 1,375 people, 7,774 were completed, which is 35.9%. The shape matters more than the rate: 40.8% of completed tasks were finished the same day they were created, the median completed task took 1 day, and the ones that did not move quickly now sit a median of 56 days past their own planned date. A to-do list is not a reservoir…
A study of 21,655 individual tasks across 1,375 users revealed that only 7,774 were completed, a 35.9% completion rate. Most tasks remain open, with 40.8% of completed tasks finished on the same day they were created, and the median completed task took just one day. However, 56% of overdue tasks have been stagnant for over 56 days, and 40.8% of completed tasks were finished within 11 days.
The planning fallacy, or our tendency to underestimate how long tasks take, plays a significant role. Even among those who completed tasks, nearly half missed their planned completion date. To improve task completion, it is suggested to cap daily tasks, limit scheduling, and focus on reducing the number of scheduled items rather than trying harder.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
