TODOs are crufty ambiguous notes that often poorly describe the current system and potential future work... and they're so easy to add that the average "todo" is very low-value, dragging down the perceived ROI of fixing any tech debt.
I keep the two separate: good notes describing the state of the world, and a calendar to schedule future actions.
When it comes to software, that means all code must have good documentation and known flaws are scheduled to be fixed. If it's not worth scheduling, it's not worth changing.
My personal life follows the same pattern, although much less formal... there just isn't enough time for every possibility, so I always work backwards from my calendar.
I keep the two separate: good notes describing the state of the world, and a calendar to schedule future actions.
When it comes to software, that means all code must have good documentation and known flaws are scheduled to be fixed. If it's not worth scheduling, it's not worth changing.
My personal life follows the same pattern, although much less formal... there just isn't enough time for every possibility, so I always work backwards from my calendar.