Atomic ToDos

I'm having fun designing how to make the ToDo part of The Goo flow.

Flow happens when you can context switch smoothly in the face of a wave of challenging incoming tasks. The Goo needs to make it easy for users to resolve a task quickly, reward them in some way and move onto the next one. But there is a fine line between being challenged and overpowered by a task. Some tasks, for example, stop us in our tracks because the set up time is too expensive.

A ToDo task that is too unwieldy will break the state of flow. You might get stressed even thinking about where to start on a task. Stress is the flow killer!

Generally at Trexy and Turbo10 we try to break all our projects down into mentally manageable ToDos - which means we minimise stress while still making headway. No ToDo is too small and we actively avoid "projects" and "deadlines".

The trick is to break down a complex project into atomic ToDos --- indivisible, non-blocking, time slices of attention that get the job done.

Hmmm. How can I force the system to converge at atomic ToDos?

One way is to set a time limit per ToDo. How about a 'billable unit' to borrow a solicitor's term? Let's say five minutes.

Now some tasks will take less than five minutes (e.g., increase font size of heading to 20px) while others may take longer (e.g., write blog entry) but the time limit will generally encourage a smaller task size.

It also means that a user could acquire extra time over the course of the day if they 'beat the clock'. This helps to 'keep score' which is an important part of maintaining flow in computer games. User's should be rewarded in some way for beating the clock.

OK. So this is the next step for The Goo's ToDo management - atomic, 5 minute ToDos - and a cumulative scoring system based on time. Let's see if this helps find the elusive flow ...