i think i agree with the sentiment of this, but i still find a "bag of ideas" interesting to remind me of things that should be on that short list if my memory fails me.
I am a fan of research notebooks, for sure, as a general place to put daydreaming and ideas that might be useful one day.
But a to do list, to me, is something quite different: it is a contract that This Thing Must Be Done Eventually. I find that this is rarely the case. The things that "must" be done will get done whether they are on any list or not, e.g.
