How to write task titles that get done

Most to-do lists fail at the writing stage, not the doing stage. A list full of "website", "mom", "taxes" is a pile of nouns your brain has to decode every time you glance at it. This guide breaks down the anatomy of a task title that converts intention into action.

✦ The three slots of a strong task title

Every title that works reliably contains up to three slots: verb, object, boundary.

1. The verb slot: start with action

The verb tells your brain what motion to make. "Draft", "Call", "File", "Book" and "Review" are verbs; "report", "email", "meeting" are not — they are topics. A topic demands interpretation; a verb demands motion. When you catch yourself writing a noun, ask: what is the first physical thing I would do? "Taxes" becomes "Gather last year's receipts". "Website" becomes "Draft the homepage headline".

2. The object slot: name the specific thing

Vague objects create vague effort. "Clean the house" invites wandering; "Scrub the upstairs bathroom" invites starting. Specificity also makes titles scannable: when you have ninety seconds between meetings, you can spot the one task that fits instead of re-reading the whole list. A useful test is the stranger test — could someone who knows nothing about your day understand what "done" means? If not, the object is too fuzzy.

3. The boundary slot: deadline, priority or time-box

Boundaries convert "someday" into "today". A deadline ("by Friday") creates urgency. A priority tag ("[P1]") creates order. A time-box ("in 25 minutes") creates permission — permission to start something big because you only committed to a small slice. Use at most one boundary per title; two boundaries ("[P1] by EOD in 25 minutes") just add noise.

✦ Before and after

Notice the pattern: each rewrite answers three questions — what motion, what object, what boundary. Once you can do this in your head, you will rarely need a generator; the generator is for the days your head is too full to do it, which is most days.

✦ Common mistakes

• Stacking verbs: "Plan, draft and review the proposal" is three tasks wearing one title. Split it.
• Hiding the verb in a noun: "Meeting preparation" → "Print the agenda for tomorrow's meeting".
• Boundary overload: one deadline or one time-box per title, never both.
• Giant titles: if a title runs past two lines, it is a project. Break it down.
• Zero titles: checkboxes with no words ("___") are procrastination machines.

A task title is a promise you make to your future self in the clearest language available. Write it so clearly that future-you has nothing to figure out — only something to start.

Ready to practice? Generate a batch of titles and edit the ones that are close. Editing a near-miss title is faster than writing from a blank line — and it trains the verb-first habit.