The Bottom Of My Todo List

At the top of Paul Graham’s todo list are the guiding principles, “Don’t ignore your dreams; don’t work too much; say what you think; cultivate friendships; be happy.” He explains that he adapted them from an account of common deathbed regrets. The principles trump any particular todo list item. If you find yourself doing many things that don’t support those principles you should consider reorganizing your life. It’s an idea I endorse and a practice I’ve adopted.

Yet at the same time, it hides an important omission. If those are all things you want to continually do before you die, then the implicit task at the very bottom of your todo list is to die. (I hesitated to post this because I thought it might be too morbid, but this is exactly what a bucket list is).

The memento mori serves two purposes. Obviously it forces you to confront the finitude of your conscious existence while deciding how to spend it. Similarly to the top of Paul’s todo list, it discourages you from spending time frivolously.

But also, as Brian Tomasik notes, it reminds you that the concept of completing your todo list is a fiction. If you complete your todo list, there’s nothing left to do but die. That just means you didn’t think hard enough about things you wanted to do.