Lists
Make a list
A list is a named container for things. Making one takes a second, which is exactly why it is worth being slow about it.
The 60-second version
Press ⌘⇧N, or tap the new list button. Give it a name and start writing.
Where the button is
Look for a page with a plus on it. It is the same icon everywhere.
iPhone, iPad, and Android
Top right of the header, next to the search icon. It is there on every screen, not only in the Lists view, so you never have to navigate somewhere first to make a list.
Web, Mac, Windows, and Linux
In the side menu, directly under Search, pinned above the scrolling part so it never scrolls out of view. If you have the top bar turned on instead, the same button moves up there as an icon next to search.
The Lists view also offers it directly when you have no lists yet.
When a list is the right answer
The honest test: does this topic outlive this week?
Days already handle anything short-lived. Groceries for tonight, three calls to make, notes from a meeting. Those belong on Today and will take care of themselves.
A list earns its place when a topic keeps coming back: books to read, a house project, a recurring shopping list, a person you take notes about.
The mistake almost everyone makes
Creating fifteen lists in week one, then abandoning twelve of them.
It happens because other apps train you to build a structure before you have material. Twos works the other way round: write onto your days, and make a list at the point where one topic starts crowding them out. That way every list you own has earned itself.
Going further
Naming matters more than structure. You will find lists by searching their names. "Kitchen renovation" beats "Home" because you will type the specific word.
Lists can hold lists. If a thing inside a list grows its own set of things, promote it rather than making a sibling list. See sublists.
A list is not a folder. There is no tree to maintain, and there is no wrong place to put something, because search does not care where it lives.
Tips
- Learn ⌘⇧N. It works from wherever you are, which is faster than finding the button.
- Start a list by selecting things that already exist and moving them, rather than from an empty page. A list that begins with content tends to survive.
- If a list has had nothing added for a month, archive it. It is not failing, it is finished.