The case for one-line tasks
Notes, sub-notes, and rich text make lists heavier without making you faster.
Every task manager eventually grows a notes field, then attachments, then comments. Each addition sounds harmless. Together they turn a list into a filing cabinet.
The trick is to keep tasks to a single line — roughly 100 characters. If a task needs more context, that context lives somewhere else (a doc, an email, a ticket) and the task links to it. The list stays scannable, and scanning is the whole point.
How to phrase a one-line task
- Start with a verb: Ship, Draft, Reply to, Book.
- Name the thing, not the project: Reply to Sam re: pricing, not Pricing project.
- If you can't say it in one line, it's actually two tasks.