Nope. After many tries at todo apps, organizational techniques, etc I've decided I am simply not busy enough to need to plan anything. The only thing I am organized with is my sleeping (always sleep at 12am, always wake up at 7am).
Ask HN: Do you plan your next day ahead?
21–30 of 84 posts
Re: Ask HN: Do you plan your next day ahead?
#22I use lists to organize everything I'm doing. Each separate project has a page with a list of specific tasks that will help me finish the project. I also have a general to-do list for chores that aren't recurring (fix the faucet vs take out the trash). Every morning I look at the lists and write a to-do list made up of the most pressing tasks that I think I can get done and what ever else I notice needs to be done that isn't written down. This is all with pen and paper
Re: Ask HN: Do you plan your next day ahead?
#23I work as a developer on client projects--my technique currently is to leave myself a small todo list towards the end of work in Simplenote or a github comment. Then I shut the work side of my mind off, enjoy my evening and sleep, wake up, start on TODO list, and if other client needs arise, hop on those and get back to TODO list later. Rinse, repeat.
If applicable, my tip is to allow yourself to enjoy the evening without thinking too much about work, so you feel rested and refreshed to tackle the next day.
Re: Ask HN: Do you plan your next day ahead?
#24Yes. Influenced by Cal Newport: http://calnewport.com/blog/2013/12/21/deep-habits-the-import...
Re: Ask HN: Do you plan your next day ahead?
#25I collect appointments from Outlook (sigh!) and set a theme for the day in my private journal, using my own https://knowfox.com for this.
Interesting software, but I could hardly read the almost-white-fonts on the almost-white-background. :-(
Re: Ask HN: Do you plan your next day ahead?
#26I use the Action Day Planner which is designed with Allan's GTD method in mind. I do not follow it very closely and one problem is that I don't always have it with me, but it works better than anything else I've tried before. I combine it with a notebook for work and a notebook for private projects.
Electronic PIMs have never worked for me, not even org mode.
Re: Ask HN: Do you plan your next day ahead?
#27For the last 3 years I've been trying to find a way to organize my life. Before that I was in a rebellious phase, I didn't believe in time management and plans. I thought they caused stress and inefficiency. I thought there was enough time for everything. However, then I crashed and realized that professionalism and proper planning have their place. But I could not and cannot manage to adopt a system. I tried org-mod…
"Most things that I perceive as tasks are either not important in the end, or they go away. The ones that remain receive my undivided honest attention and in the meantime I procrastinate."
Every honest organization system is trying to teach you that very point.
You can amass an infinite tasklist in finite time, but only the important things matter. It's much better to accomplish one important thing in a day than twenty inconsequential jobs.
...the difficulty is in discovering what isn't important.
Re: Ask HN: Do you plan your next day ahead?
#28I usually plan my day/week ahead but the amount of yak shaving I face everyday working with DevOps tools is so great I just give up. It's one time sink after the other.
Re: Ask HN: Do you plan your next day ahead?
#29Here's what works best for me:
Write down big life goals for 6 months, 3 years, 5 years, 10 years and 30 years. Every month, re-read/revise your list. This allows your subconscious to calibrate what truly matters to you. When I say every month, it's loose, everytime you feel you can't remember the essence of your life goals, you should read them again and think if they still relate to you.
Every morning, choose to get started on one and only one action that moves you forward to one of your long term life goals. Try to get started on it that day. Always remember patience is key, and focus only on trying to get the smallest amount of progress done that day. If you do more, so be it, as long as it wasn't effortful. If you've done any progress, feel good, and really allow yourself to relax, do whatever lazy or fun things of the moment you feel like doing, and know you're making progress and that things are going to workout for you.
This is based on these assumptions:
1) We always overestimate what can be accomplished in a month, but underestimate what can be accomplished in a year.
2) Productivity is not about getting lots of things done, but getting the most important things done, without wasting time on the things that provide little lasting value.
3) Most things we want to accomplish we do not because we want to, but because we feel we need too. When thats the case, no amount of planning will help, since you're true subconscious lacks the needed motivation. Therefore it is better to focus on accomplishing what you truly want.
4) Most people don't have that many things they truly want to accomplish.
Re: Ask HN: Do you plan your next day ahead?
#30I'm a freelancer, and I set my own schedule.
I've logged virtually everything I've done in the past three years into Google Calendar. This is a way to get feedback on my actions, rather than listing my intentions.
If it's a task I need to do daily, I build it into my morning or nightly routine. For example, my "sit down at desk" routine is to review and block out my time for the day in gcal. If it's not important enough that I don't remember it, don't have an automatic email reminder or it's not already on my calendar, than it's not important enough for me to think about.
I also have built a habit of "frontloading" work, and doing necessary but distracting (domestic) things as soon as possible so they are off of my plate.
Giving full concentration to tasks in my brain requires multi day thinking, so I have to sort of 'soak' in the project context. For concrete deliverable based tasks in development I'll use whichever PMS is appropriate and block/log my time appropriately.
I have a dev-journal.org for things I want to remember or side project tangents I'll want to go down later, as well as tracking arcane bash commands I rarely use etc.
I used to use iCal (I find it superior to gcal for many reasons) until I moved to using Debian full time.