Getting Things Done! :: MarkTAW.com: "Perhaps that same pressure causes you to focus only on things you can do, and not make the item some sort of pie in the sky item that you may eventually cross off. There's a big difference between 'Redesign Main Site' and 'Download All Files For Main Site' in terms of which is an action I can take now, and which is a goal that has quite a few steps that need to be taken to finish. Somehow, writing it down makes me distinguish between the two more than typing it out. Probably because I know I can't add sub-bullets or edit it. What I write down I have to be able to check off.
You also can't carry your computer to the meeting, and re-typing notes from the meeting is just a waste. Data entry into a PDA is too limited, you're always trying to find shortcuts to writing things and that's just not right, you need to be verbose at times. You can also draw pictures as needed to clarify things, using your notebook for things other than just to-do list."