Reddit's confession: Todoist made me productive but not happy. Why task completion doesn't equal life satisfaction.
Last updated: January 2025. Based on discussions from r/todoist, r/productivity, r/getdisciplined, r/selfimprovement.
"I have 45,000 Karma points. I've been using Todoist for 4 years. I complete tasks every single day. My inbox is always at zero. And I've never felt more burned out in my life. Something is fundamentally wrong."
This confession appears in r/todoist more often than you'd think. The app is excellent at what it does. But what it does might not be what you need.
High score achieved. Still feel terrible. Now what?
Todoist optimizes for task completion. It assumes: more tasks done = better life. But research on wellbeing (Diener, 2018) shows that life satisfaction comes from balance across multiple domains - relationships, health, purpose, fun - not from maximizing output in one area. You can complete 1,000 work tasks and neglect everything else.
You complete tasks all day, every day. Your Karma score is high. You still feel drained. The dopamine from checking boxes has worn off.
Open your Todoist. How many tasks are work-related? If it's 90%+, you're optimizing for work, not life. Where are gym, friends, fun?
You stopped caring about the points. They feel arbitrary. A 2-minute email and a 3-hour project both earn the same. It's not meaningful feedback.
Rest feels wrong. Hobbies feel like "wasted time." The system trained you to value productivity over wellbeing.
Inbox zero is impossible. Every completed task spawns more. You're winning battles but losing the war.
You crushed your goals. Got the promotion. Shipped the project. Feel... nothing. Productivity was the goal, not the means.
Todoist is excellent for managing work. The problem is when work becomes your entire system - and your entire life.
Todoist tracks task completion but not life balance. Research on the "Wheel of Life" coaching framework (Byrne, 2005) shows that satisfaction requires attention across multiple domains: career, relationships, health, personal growth, fun, environment. Todoist has no concept of domains - a work task and a self-care task are the same. You can't see imbalance until you're burned out.
Todoist Karma rewards task completion regardless of task type or importance. Problems:
8 life areas (Work, Body, Mind, Connection, Learning, Impact, Play, Space). Every task belongs to an area. The Purpose Wheel shows what you're neglecting. Coins reward any task - gym earns like work. Real rewards you set yourself.
Daily planning with workload limits. Shutdown ritual forces you to stop. Asks "is this realistic?" before your day starts. Premium price ($20/mo) but serious about balance.
See your day as visual blocks, not endless lists. Time-based, not task-based. You see when you're overloaded before burning out. Beautiful design.
Keep Todoist but change how you use it. Limit daily tasks to 3-5. Add "Fun" and "Self-Care" as projects. Delete tasks older than 30 days. Less is more.
Maybe. But if you've used it for years and feel burned out, the tool might genuinely not match your needs. Todoist is optimized for task management. If you need life balance, you need a tool that measures life balance.
You can try: Create projects for each life area. Set daily task limits. Schedule non-work tasks like appointments. Review weekly for balance. But you're fighting the tool's design. Apps built for balance make this easier.
Two possibilities: (1) You haven't found the right tool yet, or (2) tools aren't your problem. If you're burned out, switching apps won't fix burnout - rest and boundaries will. Consider: do you need a better system, or do you need to stop and recover?
Yes. Apps like Todoist are products of a culture that values output over wellbeing. They're tools, not villains - but they reinforce certain assumptions. Choosing tools that value balance is choosing a different set of assumptions about what makes a good life.
Todoist is a great task manager. It's not a life manager. If you feel productive but unhappy, the problem isn't your discipline or your system - it's that task completion was never the goal. The goal was a good life. Tasks are just one part of that.
Some people thrive with Todoist. If it's working for you, keep using it. But if you're reading this article and nodding, it might be time to try something that measures what actually matters to you.
8 life areas. Visual balance wheel. Coins for any task (gym counts as much as work). Rewards you actually want.
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