I once read a statement attributed to Steve Ballmer that every six months, he tears his todo list in half and throws the bottom half away. If anything far down that list was actually a priority, it will naturally get re-added (by thinking of it again, in response to a customer, etc.).
My implementation of that approach is to do the following each month:
1. Export all my unfinished todo items older than 6 months.
2. Place that export alongside my other backups.
3. Then delete those items from my todo app.
I deliberately do not look at any of those items during this process, lest I be tempted to dive back into them.
That way, I limit my total mental clutter while retaining some peace of mind, since I know that I can get back to those items (I sometimes attach photos, notes, etc. to tasks) if needed. I never do.
My implementation of that approach is to do the following each month:
I deliberately do not look at any of those items during this process, lest I be tempted to dive back into them.That way, I limit my total mental clutter while retaining some peace of mind, since I know that I can get back to those items (I sometimes attach photos, notes, etc. to tasks) if needed. I never do.