lf you only judge your task list just by what’s been added to it—the inflow—it’s easy to get overwhelmed and discouraged. How could you possibly get all these done and get back to an empty list?
But that of course is missing the point. The goal of a good productivity system & to do list is not to cross everything off it. After all, you probably never really run out of work to do. The goal is instead to maintain a balanced inflow/outflow of tasks. To knock out tasks at a rate that keeps the backlog from getting too overgrown.
Whenever I stress myself out about my task list, it’s because I’m obsessing over what’s new to it. It’s easy to look at a huge task list and feel like you aren’t getting anything done. But a quick glance at the “Done” column can be all that’s needed (for me, anyway) to keep it all in perspective.