The blog
Checklists, capacity, and how work actually gets done
Some history, some ideas you can use on a Tuesday, and the occasional note about why we built something the way we did.
The weekly one
One email a week — what we published, and what we're thinking about. No pitch.
You've written the same task down four times
Not because you forgot. Because you don't believe the list.
2 min read
The Pomodoro Technique is named after a kitchen timer
One overwhelmed student, one tomato-shaped timer, and a bet he could focus for ten minutes.
3 min read
Satisficing: the Nobel-winning case for good enough
Herbert Simon argued that stopping at 'fine' isn't laziness. It's the only rational option available.
3 min read
Milton Hershey needed sugar, so he built a railroad in Cuba
A to-do list that starts with 'make chocolate' and ends with 'run a zoo.'
3 min read
The Eisenhower Matrix isn't Eisenhower's
He was quoting someone else, he never drew a grid, and the original line is better than the tool.
3 min read
What the ♥ score is actually measuring
Priority was the wrong word, so we stopped using it.
3 min read
Ford's assembly line wasn't about speed
Twelve and a half hours to ninety-three minutes, and almost none of it came from working faster.
2 min read
Why your brain won't shut up about the thing you didn't finish
A Berlin waiter, a 1927 thesis, and the reason unfinished tasks feel louder than finished ones.
2 min read
We cap your day on purpose
Every other list app hands you infinite paper. That's the bug, not the feature.
3 min read
Parkinson's Law started as a joke about the British Navy
Work expands to fill the time available. He meant it as satire. It was not received as satire.
3 min read
We call them buckets, and we're not budging
A folder is where things go to be filed. A bucket is where things go to be emptied.
1 min read
The 1935 crash that invented the checklist
It wasn't too much airplane. It was too much to remember.
4 min read