Replace Your Standup with a Todo List

January 2, 2026 , Nicholas Khami

Note: You can watch me write this blog post on video here on x.com!

Standups create anxiety. You hoard updates during the day because you need content for the meeting. You forget your blockers. You adjust your schedule to be in early, even if you work better at night.

I ran into this when I started my company. People join startups to escape corporate bureaucracy. When I tried to introduce morning standups, the early hires pushed back hard. It didn’t feel like a startup move to them.

Given that, I went back to the drawing board to break down the actual utility of the meeting. A standup exists to distribute context so a team can parallelize work and maintain synchronization.

If that’s the goal, you don’t need a meeting.

The Process

1. Post your task list in a channel like #standup first thing in the morning
2. Edit the message to cross off tasks as you complete them throughout the day

Here’s what one of those messages looks like.

- Fix login bug on staging
- Review Sarah's PR #234
- Write API docs for /users endpoint
- Sync with design on checkout flow

As you work, you come back and edit the message to cross things off.

- ~~Fix login bug on staging~~
- ~~Review Sarah's PR #234~~
- Write API docs for /users endpoint
- Sync with design on checkout flow

Advanced Version

Add timestamps if you want to track how long things are taking you or otherwise provide more context.

Today:
- [9:15-10:30] ~~Fix login bug on staging~~
- [10:30-11:00] ~~Review Sarah's PR #234~~
- [11:00-?] Write API docs for /users endpoint
- (no start time since previus task is unfinished) Sync with design on checkout flow

That’s it. Everyone sees what you’re working on. No meeting required.