Lists in Mastodon don't work how I would like them to.
I have to follow someone to add them to a list, there are no "negative lists" (feeds composed of people not in a list), and I can't exclude people (say who post a lot of stressful politics, or who have ideas I find unjust) from my main feed while still keeping them in a specially separated feed (say, just for politics) or being able to put them in my main feed as and when I feel like it.
@light it might just be a qoto.org customization, but I think the interface over here allows that kind of behavior.
I keep people I'm following or subscribed to (I've never been clear on whether there's a difference) on different lists based on what kind of stuff they tend to post.