Using to-do lists to infer knowledge workers' temporal perceptions

Date

2011-12

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Abstract

In today’s productivity-driven work culture, many knowledge workers use to-do lists to stay organized. In this study, workers from both the United States and Norway were interviewed about their to-do lists. The interviewees’ to-do lists communicate the various cycles to which they are entrained (non-work activities, colleagues’ schedules), as well as their respective views about the enactments and construals of time. These interviews also reveal how to-do lists serve as memory aids to knowledge workers. Additionally, to-do lists themselves appear to be living documents, changing and evolving as tasks are regularly completed and added. This study also provides suggestions for further research on these enormously popular organizational tools.

Description

text

Citation

Collections