I've wasted a lot of time on points systems and lists, instead of just getting stuff done.

The problem (akrasia) is that you can't just get stuff done. That's why you can't directly compare "just getting things done" to other things. Of course if you could just get things done, that would be far better than using lists; the reason you use lists is because you can't get things done otherwise!

The fact that lists didn't work well for you, and you still didn't get stuff done even though you used lists a lot, means you need to search for a different way. But if lists did work, and you spent e.g. 40% of your time managing lists and the other 60% doing actual work, that would be a great improvement over 30% just getting things done without lists and 70% procrastination.