# The Blocker Buried in Your To-Do List

> A stuck task looks just like every other line on your list, so it sits there for a week. How to make blockers visible and deal with them first each day.

- URL: https://shotmatic.app/blog/blocker-buried-in-your-todo-list
- Category: Project Management
- Published: 2026-10-09
- Author: Tu Nguyen

## Key takeaways

- A blocked task looks like any other line on a list, so it quietly waits for days while you work on easier things.
- Mark stuck tasks explicitly, with the reason — 'waiting for API key', not just 'stuck'.
- Treat a week without movement as stuck too, even if nobody said so.
- Look at stuck work first every morning: unblock it, ask for what you need, or park it on purpose.

The app has been "almost ready" for nine days. Looking back, you can see why: the whole thing is waiting on an
API key you asked for once and never chased. That task was in your list the entire time — line eleven of
nineteen, looking exactly like every other line.

Part 3 of **No Process**. The fix isn't more discipline. It's making stuck work look different.

## Why blockers hide

A to-do list treats every item the same. That's fine for work you can do. It's terrible for work you *can't*
do yet, because:

- **You skip it without noticing.** Each day you pick something you can move, which is never the blocked task.
- **Blocked doesn't mean urgent-looking.** "Store listing" looks harmless even when it's waiting on a payment
  form nobody filled in.
- **The blocker is often outside the repo** — a key, a reply, an account — so nothing in the code reminds you.

With several projects, the effect multiplies. The stuck line is one of dozens.

## Name it, with the reason

The first fix is simple: when a task can't move, **mark it stuck and say why.**

```text
Piston        stuck: waiting for API key (asked 09-22)
Tip Split     Phase 5/6 — next: captions for 3 screenshots
Dog Training  Phase 5/9 — next: draft section 2
```

The reason matters. "Stuck" alone is a feeling. "Waiting for API key, asked on the 22nd" is something you can
act on — chase it, find another way, or decide to wait.

## Silence counts as stuck

Some tasks never get marked stuck. They just stop moving. The agent hit a wall, you moved on, and nobody wrote
it down.

A good rule: **a task that hasn't changed for a week is stuck**, whether or not someone said so. That's why
[writing the next step](https://shotmatic.app/blog/always-write-the-next-step) and phase in the repo helps — you can see when they
last changed.

## Stuck first, every morning

Put stuck tasks at the top of what you look at each day and deal with them before anything else. For each
one, choose:

1. **Unblock it** — send the email, chase the key, make the decision.
2. **Work around it** — change the plan so the blocker doesn't matter.
3. **Park it** — move it to the backlog, with the reason, on purpose.

This is step one of the morning routine in [running 10 projects in parallel](https://shotmatic.app/blog/run-10-projects-in-parallel),
and it's one of the four parts of a [minimum process](https://shotmatic.app/blog/no-process-just-prompts).

## Where ShotMatic fits

In ShotMatic, a blocker — or seven days of silence — gives a task a red dot and floats it to the top of its
board. The side menu shows a red dot on any board with stuck work, so you see it before anything else.

## FAQ

**How do I keep track of blocked tasks?**

Give stuck tasks an explicit flag and a one-line reason, and sort them to the top of whatever list you look at every morning.

**When should a task count as stuck?**

When it can't move without something outside your control — or when it hasn't moved for about a week, which usually means there's a blocker nobody named.

**What do I do with a task I can't unblock?**

Park it on purpose: move it to the backlog with the reason. A parked task is a decision; a forgotten stuck task is a leak.