Does writing it down make you more or less likely to do it?

I make a daily to-do list, usually about five or six items long, which helps me juggle my "real" jobs and my freelance work and my other projects.

The only lists I make besides the shit on my blog are for groceries.

I definitely make to-do lists as a tactic to put off actually doing any of the things on my to-do lists, I have got pretty good at convincing myself I can stop worrying about something because it's officially on the list and so will definitely get done, and then not actually doing it. So 'I write it down explicitly so it is exorcised from my life' I guess.

I was definitely not organized in high school or even in my early 20s. I can't figure out when I became an organized, disciplined, get-shit-done person, but I definitely am one.

it depends what category of task it is. there's a big difference between "buy more toothpaste" and "start learning russian"

I once wrote (and did!) "buy japanese toothpaste"

the more i tell myself i need to do a thing the less likely i am to do it

no

Basically, yes - though it's more effective at work where things feel confined and achievable, than at home, where they don't.

work, i put stuff into a hard copy diary and it gets done. personal, writing stuff goes into a big and incomprehensible memory hole.

Oh I didn't think about work yeah I need to write stuff down there because I'm a big ditz

I’m with darragh, I write it down, prioritize, and do it. I probably accomplish about 90% of what I write down- if I don’t get to it it’s either a really long term goal, or I determined it was no longer a priority. This goes for work as well as around the house.

If I don’t write it down, forget it. I’ll lose track of it, or drive myself crazy trying to make sure I remember it.

I have to force myself to be organized this way. It’s not my natural state.

I used to keep everything in my head and didn’t understand the list people. Now I will actually forget things if I don’t write them down. The act of writing helps with memory as well as putting the list in the place where the list goes.

I have reduced the number of jobs and projects I am working, so I am no longer as overwhelmed

Probably a separate thread but what do folk use for a to-do list? At work, I use a mixture of my inbox, the To-Do app built into 365, Workflowy and pen & paper and am generally pretty on it. At home, uh, Any.do and Any List, but not to any real level of efficiency.

I once dated a guy who would have to write down the only one or two obligations he had and I was totally uncomprehending… if you only have two things to do, how can you possibly forget? Meanwhile I kept dozens on my mental list each day … I guess he probably had ADHD and I was an asshole idk

Less likely. The only way for me to do things is to do them immediately.
I'm a mental note person. I don't have an agenda. Except the one at work, and thank God for reminders cause I only glance at it.
I write down grocery lists and then don't bother to look at it in the shop.
If I write something down in a notebook, I will most likely misplace it, or write a new list on the next page, and in the end do things independently from it anyway.
Relatively few things slip my mind though.

I write things on a piece of paper. If I’m making a grocery list I just write the list. If I’m planning my time, I write each day of the week and then what I’m planning to do that day. If it’s for work I use a regular 99 cent notebook. I tried using a calendar many times but I’m repelled. I throw all the paper away when the shopping trip or week is over. I use scrap paper so I’m not wasting anything. Or hoarding anything.

Though I do keep my notebooks. No regrets about that bc it helps me feel like I accomplished something.

I buy these pocket-sized Muji notebooks in packs of 10:

https://www.muji.us/cdn/shop/products/greya7_1260x1260.jpg

Both work and home stuff is quite similar. Memory is shot so I write down the shopping/working task list in one rolling .txt file where I add and delete lines.

The file is never deleted. It will be there when I die.