This is a great point, and I think it highlights the fact that there is no good software to push/pop/schedule short-term memory items, and organize them into a simple priority scheme.
I think part of the problem is that almost all software is designed to be usable without training/learning, so almost all task management tools get reduced to lists - which are inefficient.
We need a tool that retrains our brains to generate units of work that, aside from a line of descriptive text, also contain: NPV, value-over-time, hierarchical dependencies, resource allocation, location dependence, etc... ...and then have a simple piece of software prioritize based on calculated optimized order of action.
The discontinued closed source LifeBalance published by Llamagraphics took a stab towards that. DateBk6 published by Pimlico Software also was moving in this direction.
A PIM application ecosystem with a storage and RPC system like Newton soups (but updated to Internet security paranoia), stored in an open, highly-parseable format like Emacs Org Mode, with the enormous tweakability and context-sensitivity of DateBk6, combined with the dynamism of LifeBalance, would be very interesting.
I think part of the problem is that almost all software is designed to be usable without training/learning, so almost all task management tools get reduced to lists - which are inefficient.
We need a tool that retrains our brains to generate units of work that, aside from a line of descriptive text, also contain: NPV, value-over-time, hierarchical dependencies, resource allocation, location dependence, etc... ...and then have a simple piece of software prioritize based on calculated optimized order of action.