I’ve been using Claude connected to Obsidian to manage my todo list for months now. It worked fine: Claude would track tasks, update them when I asked, and keep everything organized. On paper (no pun intended), it was the perfect system for a software engineer.

Except it wasn’t working.

The Problem

The issue was simple: digital todos never felt committed. I’d tell Claude to add something to my list, but it didn’t stick in my brain as “handled.” So I kept maintaining the list in my head anyway, which defeats the entire purpose of having a todo list. I was carrying around mental load for tasks that were supposedly tracked somewhere else.

I also missed the visceral satisfaction of crossing things off. There’s something about drawing a line through a completed task that makes it feel done. Asking an AI to mark something complete just doesn’t hit the same way.

The problem wasn’t Claude, it was the digital format itself. At least for me.

The Switch

This week, I started keeping my todo list in a notebook instead. At the beginning of each week, I rewrite any pending todos from the previous week. When I complete something, I cross it off.

That’s it.

Writing tasks down by hand makes them feel real. Like they’re actually committed somewhere and I don’t need to keep track of them mentally anymore. And crossing them off? Turns out that physical act matters more than I thought.

It’s Personal

This isn’t a knock on digital tools or AI assistants. Plenty of people thrive with digital todo lists, and that’s great. For me, though, the tactile experience of pen and paper is what actually lets me trust the system enough to stop tracking everything in my head.

If you’ve been struggling with digital todos, maybe try analog for a week. Worst case, you’re out a few dollars for a notebook.