To Don't – The reverse to-do list

[HeyZuess]

I have a `don't do` list and a `anti-regret` list.

The `don't do` list works well, not all the time but I am constantly reminded not to drink coke, down from many liters a day. My `anti-regret` list takes priority over my to do list, things like spend more time with the kids, again works in the majority of times.

[Apocryphon]

I’ve thought of creating a “worrybook” to jot down anxious thoughts and worries to confirm afterwards whether or not if they had any basis in reality, or were in fact irrational. So another angle of dealing with regret.

Is there any psychological basis of recording bad thoughts to disprove them, as a way to treat anxiety?

[zelphirkalt]

When I read anti-regret list first, I thought it would be a list of things you already have done, that you came to the conclusion you should not regret. But what you describe sounds more useful for deciding what to do next.

[Abishek_Muthian]

Are the items in the list single level or do you have multilevel items too? Say you have something you don't want to do but if you did, Then followed by 'do this' or 'don't do this' for course correction.

e.g.

.

└── Don't Drink/

    ├── Don't call ex gf/

    │   ├── Called ex gf/

    │   │   ├── Apologize and quit the call/
    
    |   |   ├──...

I'm asking this because I'm trying to find whether it's possible to build a second-order thinking tool; Where people can submit various recipes for second/multi-order thinking. I've been tracking this on my validation platform[1].

[1] https://needgap.com/problems/263-plan-second-order-third-ord...

[peterburkimsher]

In Chinese, there are 2 words for "regret".

後悔 hòu huǐ is the regret of things I did: e.g. I regret drinking that much.

遺憾 yí hàn is the regret of things I didn't do: e.g. I regret not asking her to dance.

Which do you have more of on your anti-regret list? Spending time with kids sounds much more like 遺憾 yí hàn.

[Adaptive]

As someone that helped create a relatively popular task management app, I've scaled things wayyyy back personally and now mostly use Apple Reminders and Streaks (Apple ecosystem only so far).

Streaks has a great "don't do this" function for tracking habits. Recommended as a habit/recurrence tracker in general.

[pantulis]

The name is fun because it looks like the evil alter ego of Amazin Marvin, a very comprehensive productivity app

www.amazingmarvin.com

[threecheese]

Are you using Marvin? I considered it but it didn’t seem to have a visible community (as proxy for life expectancy).

[csbartus]

In the Age of Fallibility this is a must. We are pursuing the superman way, while we might be surprised we are already as good as it is possible, as we must be.

Tracking the don’ts, then realizing some of them are part of us, and this is no problem, will lead us to better humans, to understand we will never be perfect and we will always be fallible.

[aiisjustanif]

> while we might be surprised we are already as good as it is possible, as we must be.

Well this makes me sad.

[nkozyra]

I have been doing a combination to do/to don't list for awhile and treat the latter like the proverbial unbreakable chain.

So in addition to tasks on my list, I have a M-F to don't list that I fill in once I've ... uh, not done that thing.

Mostly related to health, fitness and sleep. It helps me stay on track.

[juangacovas]

A code style guidelines seems like a nice don't list to me, if accompanied with examples

[motohagiography]

Smart. A list of bad habits would help, as self selecting the ones we "remember" is different from recognizing ones we do unconsciously. Most of them will be immoderate versions of habits that are probably mostly good. Short list for me of things to choose to stop doing would be, suffering, struggling, searching, judging, among others, and in the time and emotional focus just those would free up, I could do stuff like lawncare, product development, get passively better at something I enjoy, or become interested in the experiences of others. I probably won't use an app unless it provides some kind of exogenous value, but it's a nice piece of art.

[aguasfrias]

The "don't take the lift" suggestion in the screenshot is excellent. This presents a daily challenge that you can feel proud of tracking.

However, I think that this is only because it is reducible to a positive item that would be better served by a todo list: - Take the stairs.

The other ones don't seem like discrete, countable challenges. Rather they're simply part of conscientious behavior. You might as well include "don't spill milk and walk away without cleaning it up" or "don't kick your dog" in there. Unless you had serious problems avoiding those actions, I don't think it's very useful.

[mrkramer]

Aren't To Don'ts counter-productive since there are 99 things you shouldn't do and like 5 things you need To Do. This is akin to using blacklist as a sysadmin instead of whitelist since there are hundreds of potentially dangerous and unwanted apps which need to be blacklisted but in reality there are 10 apps that you actually need and use which are easier to pinpoint and whitelist.

[mlac]

It’s not the 99 things you shouldn’t do that you wouldn’t do otherwise, it’s the 4 that you shouldn't be spending time on but are anyway.

“We’ve always done it this way” - old habits die hard, and sometimes what you decide not to do is important as what you choose to do. Identifying and marking down time wasters and energy sucks is a useful exercise.

[huachimingo]

Funny enough, I've always thinked that TODO list meant "everything else that has to be done" because TODO = all in spanish.

[jrootabega]

Interesting. Do you call it a "hagamos" list? Along those lines, calling this place "Hacer News" would be pretty fitting!

[_tk_]

Other than those shown on the website, could you give some everyday examples to write in there? This sounds like a neat app I would install and never look at again, after 3 days. I don’t see myself, friends or colleagues avoiding unprofessional, unproductive or regrettable situations if they had looked at their To Don’t list in the morning.

[moneywoes]

Gossip, browsing social media etc

[scns]

Made me smile. Personally i use Habitica though which offers penalties for bad habits too, in a playful way.

[AzzieElbab]

Was it inspired by fake movie trailer from Grindhouse? https://youtu.be/lttrIPDFplU

[rg111]

Hey, I translated your whole app to Bengali.

When will I see this reflected in the update?

[alreadyinxkcd]

... go chasing waterfalls.

[tomcat27]

lol this might actually work!

[noisem4ker]

Let's start a list:

1 - Don't create websites that only show with JavaScript enabled.

[slig]

2 - Don't complain to others about your personal choices.

[yosito]

2 - Don't create app icons that look like swastikas