I love you, readers, but some of you have odd productivity hangups.

Take to-do lists. I’ve written about these apps for over a decade, and I basically hate all of them. I completely understand when someone adds a bunch of tasks to an app, tells themselves they’ll actually use it, then forgets to ever open said app ever again. This, to me, makes perfect sense—the app didn’t work for you.

It’s not your fault or anything you should feel bad about. It’s just a thing that happened.

And yet, for some reason, people feel guilty about not using such apps. Readers, coworkers, and Twitter friends alike have all told me they’re embarrassed about, say, using a sticky note to keep track of their tasks. These are, invariably, people who get a lot done. It’s clear to me that their system is working for them.

There’s no one way to be productive. Please don’t feel embarrassed about using a system that works for you.

MORE