11
Todoodle Your To-Do List: The Todoodlist Review
Todoodlist isn’t your ordinary to-do list.
Nick Cernis, by his own admission, writes on bananas for fun.
Nick Cernis creates analogies that take advantage of helpless kittens, Russian parrot astronauts, and the fine and much-maligned art of blowing one’s nose.
Nick Cernis is an out-of-the-closet nerd (before it was cool to be one). We know this because he references his love for Star Wars, Sudoku, and coding without demonstrating the slightest twinkle of remorse.
Nick Cernis has also written what is very possibly the most enjoyable book on productivity we will ever read in our lives: Todoodlist.
Toododlist came out some time ago. It is not a new thing. But then, none of the techniques Nick talks about in Todoodlist are especially new things. They are old things, repurposed and reimagined. A significant portion of the book is making the best of a to-do list, for Pete’s sake.
Yes, the same lists you used to scribble on scraps of paper and then forget all about until you fished them out from behind the computer three months later.
Nick has a solution to that problem, by the way. He has a solution to most problems with old solutions. Todoodlist is all about finding solutions to real problems, instead of – and this is the critical point – finding solutions to imaginary ones.
Todoodlist argues that this age of productivity we’re in, where we have a widget for every imaginable purpose, where your Gmail calendar can ping you when it’s time to have a bowel movement and your PDA can keep track of your relatives’ birthdays, has come up with a ton of solutions.
They’re just not solutions to the problems we actually have.
Take the to-do list, for example. The to-do list is a pretty basic concept. You write it on paper. You cross off items when they’re done. You carry on with life.
The 2.0 upgrade for the to-do list was to get the exact same list online. It was just like your paper list, except instead of scribbling with a pencil, you typed. Instead of putting it on the fridge, you put it on your desktop. This was the bold new innovation that technology brought us. It fixed a problem we didn’t actually have.
Did anyone out there ever say “I wish my to-do list was on my computer instead of my fridge?”
Nope. Here’s what they did say:
“I wish I used my to-do list.”
So Nick solved that problem instead. Seems simple. Consider that no one else thought of it, and you suddenly it’s also brilliant.
Todoodlist, you see, is thoughtful. And funny. And while it’s busy being thoughtful and funny, you don’t even notice that it’s telling you the problems you currently have with productivity.
The real problems. Not the problem of getting your productivity strategies online, because that’s not the real problem.
The real problem is that your productivity strategies don’t work.
With Todoodlist, Nick goes a long way toward making some very common strategies work exceedingly well. He also suggests an entirely new way of thinking so that you can shift your own favored strategies and find the real problem – and the real solution. He does this using the following devices:
• 7 really enjoyable essays with funny titles like Zen Kitten in a Box on why we’re so stressed out about productivity and how to fix it
• 5 ideas for paper productivity, including the titular Todoodlist, which is both surprisingly useable and enchantingly decorative
• A 5-step program that helps you banish complexity from your life. My strategy for this is called procrastination, but Nick’s works better.
• Multiple ways to start – and complete – new projects without freaking out like you usually do
• General awesomeness
Nick Cernis admires creativity and ingenuity. He wants to see what you do with his ideas. He wants you to use them, to make them better. He wants you to show your ideas off.
Nick Cernis is the sort of guy who would have invented pre-sliced bread. Simple. Brilliant. He would’ve thrown in the pencil eraser, too, but this is because he really likes pencil erasers. Pencil erasers feature highly in Todoodlist.
If you could put a price on genius, what would it be? Try $14. It doesn’t get much cheaper than that. Especially for Todoodlist, with nearly 100 pages of smart, savvy, enjoyable, useful reading.
We think it’s brilliant. You’ll think so too.
Take a moment to contemplate the concept of Zen kittens and your productivity. We think Nick might have been putting us on with that one, though it’s always possible he’s just way over our heads. The thing you have to understand is, Nick seems so simple. So does his ebook.
But don’t be fooled. Todoodlist seems so simple, but the secrets to life are in this ebook. Or at least the secrets to a better to-do list, and an infinitely more enjoyable life.
Click here to buy Todoodlist, and see what we mean for yourself.
Help spread the word!
Welcome to our community. Kick back, put your feet up and join the discussion.
14 Responses - Leave your comments too!
Go ahead. Leave a Comment!
-
-
-
James is reading:
-
-
Taylor is reading:
-
-
Social Hookups
-
James,
My daughter once carved a banana for fun, so I feel I have a deep connection with Nick. (Actually, she won a prize with it [yes really], so maybe it was for the glory. More connections with Nick? He is pretty glorious…)
Every single person I know who’s gotten ToDoodled says it’s been life-altering. So for all you feet-draggers and fence-sitters, I’ll chime and and highly recommend you grab a copy.
Plus, like James says, Nick rocks. Nobody does quirkily funny like Nick does, so you’ll enjoy the read. And you get stuff done, too. Coolness!
Regards,
Kelly
Kelly´s last blog ..Little Guitars and MCE
Todo lists are interesting from a technical point of view, because they invariably start to creep into “tasking.” Once something taking more than an hour or so lands on the list, things start getting more complicated. Add in todos which are contingent, or satisfy contingencies, the problem starts to get really sticky indeed. Add auditing (who did what, when)…
I’ve written a lot about the subject on a different blog than what’s linked here. Never thought to put it all in an ebook. Might have to consider that!
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Practical WordPress Tip #7: Use Redirected URLs to help build traffic
@ Dave – That’s why we typically recommend that larger projects always be broken down into small steps and milestones. It’s easy to do a quick step – it’s overwhelming to look at a whole project.
Even an hour-long project can be broken down into steps. For example, a blog post: Write headline. Create 5-point outline. Write paragraph one for first point. Etc.
@ Kelly – I always liked carving pumpkins myself. Much fun in that artistry!
I do think it is a good idea to break a larger project into smaller tasks for sure, but I’ve seen developers seriously micro-manage those types of things to the point where it starts to take away from real development time. So I guess there is a balance there that needs to be struck.
Well, I’m tired of hearing people rave about this and not have it or know what it’s all about. Buying right now…
Michael Martine´s last blog ..Ten Things to Rock Your Business in a Tough Economy (and Make Your Competition Cry)
@ Michael – LOL!! Now if that wasn’t the perfect damned example of why marketing campaigns need to hit people seven times or more… I don’t know what is.
James: I know, right?
It’s a great read so far, just now getting to the nitty gritty.
Michael Martine´s last blog ..Ten Things to Rock Your Business in a Tough Economy (and Make Your Competition Cry)
HA! I GOT MICHAEL! I WIN I WIN I WIN!
Tei – Men with Pens´s last blog ..Todoodle Your To-Do List: The Todoodlist Review
Too do, or not too do…that is the question. Anything written with humor that works is a great resource, checking it out now.
Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach´s last blog ..9/11/01 – Remembering 8 years ago
Josh Hanagarne introduced me to it and I love it! So creative and, let’s face it – makes complete sense. As someone who has worked in the online space for a long time, I’d much prefer organizing myself w/pen and paper – and Nick’s creative ways were a fab added bonus!
Laura – The Journal of Cultural Conversation´s last blog ..Book Review: A New Earth
Does it solve my nagging aggravation with paper-based lists — i.e., carrying unfinished items over to the next list without having to rewrite them all over again?
Tom – Yes and no. It offers a couple of different options for keeping lists, and you can definitely use some of those to prevent having to re-write items.
However – and no offense, here – if you’ve got so many items that need re-writing into the next list, maybe you’re not actually putting your to-do list to good use in the first place. That’s one of the things he talks about, too. If you have twelve items that you need to rewrite list after list, then what’s the point of keeping a to-do list at all?
This is something he talks about, and he offers a lot of ways to fix that problem. It sounds like you have less a problem of needing to rewrite as you do a problem of not actually getting to cross items off the list.
Tei – Men with Pens´s last blog ..Todoodle Your To-Do List: The Todoodlist Review
I usually try to do the things in a particular order when I am working. If I started something I usually stick to it until its’ finished, it might be boring but I feel is the best way for me so I don’t have to think about something else. Anyway, I will give this book a try and hope I will learn some new things.