I think we can agree that artificial intelligence is changing our world. However most of us are still in the infancy stage when it comes to learning how to use the technology. While you may rely on common use cases, like asking Siri for directions, AI may soon make you more productive by helping you create a better to-do list, especially when it comes to completing big-picture items.
Even large projects and goals are really just a series of to-dos, says Amir Salihefendic, CEO and founder of the productivity and collaboration software company Doist. “There’s a huge amount of preparation that goes into them, and a big project can be a lot of hours,” he says. “You need to split them up, and you can utilize AI models to help you create tasks.”
Recently, the Doist team added AI capabilities to its popular todoist app. In the experimental phase, the tool helps break down big goals by suggesting smaller tasks that can be added to the user’s to-do list. For example, if you want to run a marathon, the tool may suggest that you invest in proper running shoes, research routes, create a training plan, find a personal trainer, and join a training group. Users can select the tasks that are relevant to them, and schedule them on their to-do list.
Trying it Out
I recently tested out writing an AI-powered to-do list. One of the things I needed to accomplish was to meet with a financial planner. The item felt a little ambiguous, so I used todoist to create a plan of action. I put the general task “create a to-do list for meeting with a financial planner” into the app. It generated this list of sub tasks:
- Research potential financial planners
- Compile a list of questions to ask the financial planner
- Arrange an initial meeting with the financial planner
- Prepare a budget to discuss with the financial planner
- Request any relevant documents or information from the financial planner
- Attend the meeting with the financial planner and discuss the to-do list
Next, I put the same prompt into ChatGPT. Here’s a streamlined summary of its suggestion, which also included tips for completing each step:
- Gather financial documents
- Define your goals and objectives
- Prepare a list of questions
- Research potential financial planners
- Schedule an appointment
- Share necessary information
- Prepare a summary of your financial situation
- Determine your risk tolerance
- Be ready to discuss your financial history
- Attend the meeting with an open mind
- Take notes
- Ask for clarification
- Discuss fees and services
- Evaluate the meeting
- Follow up and take action
I ended up using a combination of tasks from the AI-powered lists to prepare for my meeting.
Next, I turned to AI for help relaunching a blog I started a year and a half ago. I put the prompt “create a posting schedule for a weekly blog” into ChatGPT and got this comprehensive schedule, which also included a list of tasks inside each day’s focus.
- Monday: research and planning
- Tuesday: writing
- Wednesday: editing and revising
- Thursday: formatting and optimization
- Friday: graphics and media
- Saturday: promotion and sharing
- Sunday: reflection and planning
The todoist app suggested these tasks:
- Create a blog
- Identify the purpose of the blog (e.g. informational, educational, promotional).
- Decide how frequently posts should be published.
- Outline the topics to be covered in the blog.
- Create a list of blog titles and ideas for each post.
- Schedule the posts based on the desired frequency.
- Monitor the blog for feedback and adjust the posting schedule accordingly.
ChatGPT was definitely the winner here, but it was easy enough to add these actions as tasks in the todoist app.
Benefits of Using AI for To-Do Lists
The biggest benefit I found for utilizing AI with your to-do list is that it created forward momentum. It can be easy to get lost in analysis paralysis and do nothing, especially if the project feels overwhelming. By letting AI suggest tasks in a logical order, you aren’t left guessing what to do first.
Salihefendic agrees: “A lot of people need help getting started,” he says. “It’s quite basic, but people are struggling making [big] tasks more actionable.”
AI can also identify tasks that you might easily overlook. For example, I hadn’t thought about creating a list of questions for my financial planner. The prompt from todoist helped me come up with a few things to ask about his investing philosophy and communication preferences to ensure we were a fit.
With my blog relaunch, ChatGPT suggested “add alt text and captions as necessary for accessibility and SEO purposes” to Friday’s graphics and media focus. I probably would have skipped that step.
When used inside a subscription-based tool like todoist, AI will also be able to recognize patterns. For example, it can identify tasks that you postpone over and over and suggest that you delete the item or reprioritize it based on your past behavior.
While they offer lots of value right now, Salihefendic says AI-powered to-do lists are in the very early stage of development. “The goal here is not only helping people get more done, but also to resolve some of the overwhelm that many people feel,” he says. “Hopefully, AI can create systems that do that.”
