Track what you're waiting on without rereading every conversation
Use an AI assistant to review waiting tasks in WBTDL, identify useful follow-ups, and update statuses without searching through old conversations.
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You can track work you're waiting on by keeping it in World's Best To-Do List (WBTDL) with the waiting status, then asking a connected AI assistant to review those tasks through MCP. Put the missing reply or decision in the title so you can understand the hold-up without reopening the original conversation.
Write down what you're waiting for
“Website” doesn't tell you much on Friday. “Get Maya's approval on homepage copy” tells you what has to happen next. If you've already sent the draft, you can mark “Send homepage draft to Maya” done and keep the approval task waiting.
Use separate tasks when you want to distinguish your finished action from the response you're still expecting. If that feels like unnecessary detail, keep one clear task and change its status as the work moves. The list should help you see what's unresolved.
Ask for a review before asking for changes
Read my waiting WBTDL tasks assigned to me. Group them by who or what I'm waiting on, using only what's stated in the titles. Show anything unclear separately. Suggest follow-ups, but don't change statuses or contact anyone.
The assistant can retrieve tasks with the waiting status, including accessible shared work. Asking for your assignments keeps the review focused. If a title doesn't name the blocker, supply that context instead of letting the assistant guess.
A useful review might leave you with one call to make, one decision to chase, and a task that can now reopen. Choose which follow-ups to save. The assistant can create those tasks and put an urgent one in High Priority if you ask.
When the answer arrives
Tell the assistant what changed and which saved task it affects. “Maya approved the copy. Mark ‘Get Maya's approval on homepage copy’ done, and set ‘Test signup form with revised homepage copy’ back to open.” Ask it to show the updated statuses afterward.
If the response creates more work, add a separate next action. “Revise homepage intro using Maya's comments” is easier to pick up than a task called “Maya replied.” You can then include it in your next daily priority review.
Will it notice replies or remind me automatically?
No. The WBTDL MCP connection doesn't monitor email, detect replies, or send timed reminders. The assistant needs you to provide the update, or a separate tool would need to supply that information. Waiting is a task status, not an inbox monitor.
The task reader returns up to 500 active tasks per call, so a very large waiting list may be incomplete. It doesn't retrieve archived History either. Build a regular review into a routine you already have, such as preparing for your weekly meeting. The meeting-notes workflow can help you record the new actions that come out of that check-in.