Comment by tunesmith
10 hours ago
I think a super common problem with any todo system is the "capture anything" mindset. They've even redefined what "focus" means, like now it just means to focus on whatever thing you're focused on at that moment.
Focus is supposed to mean you have a clear idea of who you are and what you need to work on, and also what you don't.
So I've taken to follow a (bespoke) process where I identify what my own personal principles are, and what priorities and efforts they imply. Then, of all the "oh I could/should do this" potential tasks that occur to me, I have an out: if it doesn't align with my own personal focus, then I can delete it.
This resonates — the real superpower is having a clear “no”, not capturing everything.
One idea I’m exploring with *Concerns* is making that constraint explicit: when you set “active goals/projects”, you can only keep a *small fixed number* (e.g. 3–5). Anything else becomes “not active”, so the system won’t surface it or turn it into tasks.
Curious: what’s your number—3, 5, or 10—and what rule do you use to decide what gets to be “active”?