I don&#x27;t know if I fully agree with the GP&#x27;s idea that this is the canonical definition of a TODO list, but I don&#x27;t think short-term memory alone is sufficient for the current project in all cases.  For the creative process of design I tend to agree you usually don&#x27;t need to keep notes, but for the creative process of code architecture I think external notes are often necessary, especially if there is any significant refactoring of existing code involved.