This way, I have a checklist to tell me what I have done, and I can then use the same checklist again next time I change my computer. If I add all these tasks to my to-do list, not only would I lose the information once checked off, the list would become overwhelming. Installing new apps is one thing, but adding the right keyboard (I use the UK keyboard) and other system settings I like need a few instructions, and as I only do this once every three or four years, I forget how to do it. When I have time, I click on the note link, and I am taken directly to my checklist in Evernote.
In Todoist, I have a single task that says: “continue setting up new computer”. After that, I have a list of essential apps in a note in Evernote, I can pull up, and as I install the apps, I check them off. Once these apps are installed, I set up my email accounts. The first apps I install are always the same. This does create a little extra work, but doing things this way ensures all my apps are new, fresh and in full working order and not suffering from bugs that have been picked up over years of use. I don’t copy my old computer’s hard drive to my new one I clean install everything. This makes it hard to know what has and has not been done. Tasks managers generally do not keep the task in the task list once it is complete - they disappear into a completed section.
These are tasks that would be better placed on a checklist, so you can instantly recall what has been done. Often the tasks you are creating as you break down the bigger tasks are what I call “checklist tasks”. There is, however, a more significant issue. What is likely to happen is you will open up your email or Slack messages and look for some low-hanging fruit to do - the dopamine hit you are craving. When you finish the session, the last thing you want to do is start another task. Imagine you have spent the last four hours in an intense Zoom meeting, and you are tired. It’s switching between different work modes that cause us to procrastinate and not do the tasks. The reason we don’t do them is not the length of the task it’s getting started. This makes sense on the surface, when we have tasks that take only a few minutes to do, you would think we would be more motivated to do them.
Some of the worst advice I hear is ‘break down your tasks into smaller chunks’.
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