Just a one note text page. I have a normal list, and linked a set of sub lists that link from the top. Then I have a 'today' list of the really important stuff that must get done that day.
Ask HN: How do you manage – and remember to manage – your to-do list in 2022?
61–70 of 84 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do you manage – and remember to manage – your to-do list in 2022?
#62I'm a huge fan of https://momentum.earth . It's the best GTD system I've seen online, and the infinite sub-tasking/grouping, where each grouping can be set to be done either sequentially or in parallel, either surfacing the next task or all the tasks in the "Next" list automatically is amazing. Throw in the review settings, and the big picture areas of responsibility? And end-to-end encryption? It's amazing.
Can you do 'blocking' tasks? E.g. Can't paint a wall until the task to move a container is done, but can't do that until the container is empty, so the sequence is derived from blocking tasks. Is it collaborative?
I'm looking at it, there's an "away" status for tasks waiting on someone else. Also tasks can be sequential so that's naturally blocking. Doesn't appear to be collaborative. It's a very nice interface and I'm seriously considering it. My friction is that I have a bunch of work projects that I'm not sure if I should dump them into momentum, which seems more personally aimed.
Re: Ask HN: How do you manage – and remember to manage – your to-do list in 2022?
#63TickTick is the best app I've found. I started with Todoist. But bugs and missing features made be check out the competition a few years back. I've been happy with the switch to TickTick, and I haven't had any reason to re-shop since.
TickTick has steadily improved/refined their offering without ever interrupting my existing workflows.
Thoughts/details about how I use it:
(1) I never try to remember to do anything. I just always add a quick reminder in TickTick and let my brain move on. I have ~300 reminders right now. This is part of the answer to how I remember to manage the list. The list has every I need to know/track in it, so the need for management shows up whenever the list becomes unwieldy. More on that below.
(2) Everything that needs to get done gets a due date. I add an arbitrary one if it doesn't have to get done by a certain date. I won't see any task with a due date again until the due date arrives. The only thing I regularly pay attention to is my "Today" view -- the list of due or overdue tasks.
(3) Actually-scheduled things go on my calendar. The to-do list is for things that don't necessarily have to get done at a fixed time. (Tick Tick is good about showing both your calendar and your tasks at the same time, so you can maintain this separation while still seeing what has to get done.)
(4) There are lots of tasks (e.g. perform annual maintenance) that I don't perform right away. Having these tasks automatically repeat 1 year from completion (vs. 1 year from the original due date) is a very helpful/useful option. (Both Todoist and TickTick support this.)
(5) I remind myself to do more things than I actually do. As tasks come up that I'm not going to perform right away, I re-schedule them (e.g. for 1 more week out). But once I've dismissed/delayed a task a few times, it's time to re-evaluate whether it's actually worth doing.
It's always interesting to notice thoughts like: "I should do this, but I'm about to skip doing so again." Sometimes this prompts working to develop new habits or other corrective action. But more often it results in me re-evaluating why I think I "should" do it and deleting the task. Until I take one of those actions, I have explicit evidence that my thoughts (what I should do) and actions (what I'm actually doing) aren't quite aligned. Seeing that gap is useful -- it provides some insights.
(6) The biggest downside of this system is that it can result in a mountain of delayed (so clearly not very important) tasks building up. But I find it better to deal with that as described in (5) than to be careful about what I add to my task list up front.
Re: Ask HN: How do you manage – and remember to manage – your to-do list in 2022?
#64A paper notebook for long and intermediate term goals. I am picky about it. Thick paper and fountain pens. This is where I track my experiences with trial-and-errors with many sides of my life.
Obsidian is used as a personal wiki where I track consumables like movies, series, and books.
I sometimes also use ClickUp. I track the most unpleasant stuff with it.
About to-dos specifically, I use plain-text files. Only on some days. It lasts for a day.
I sometimes also use Google Sheets or Google Calendar to timeblock stuff for the next day. And then print it out.
I believe one should try different methods or combinations of them before settling with on or some.
Re: Ask HN: How do you manage – and remember to manage – your to-do list in 2022?
#65I use Microsoft To Do, built by the team that used to be behind the now discontinued Wunderlist.
Re: Ask HN: How do you manage – and remember to manage – your to-do list in 2022?
#66Just a simple Markdown file in VS Code.
I use little symbols like this: [x] = done, [-] = canceled. [>] = moved. [~] = in progress. I also write notes on the items so I can recall my thought processes quickly. To me, it's important to keep a to-do list free-form and unconstrained -- a constrained to-do list is not as useful. (hence I find most dedicated to-do list apps -- while tidy -- to not be that useful in real life)
My .md file looks like this:
3/3/2022
[x] Setup meeting with director Y
4/3/2022
[-] Check ETL - bleah not needed anymore
[x] Call Person X
[ ] Debug ffff.py
* I tried x but it didn't work. Maybe try y?
* Also look at z further up the pipeline.
[~] Schedule meeting with ZZ
* remember to discuss topic YY - don't move forward without agreement. Don't get sidetracked.
Parked
[ ] Schedule visit to location BB to learn how it works
[ ] Check out new database system DD -- see if it's faster than what we have.
The only downside of this system is that there are no automatic reminders, but I need time-based reminders for certain things, I just add an item to my calendar app. That's what calendaring apps are for, and todo apps merely duplicate their functionality.
Context switching is expensive, and anything you can do to recover context quickly will pay dividends.
Re: Ask HN: How do you manage – and remember to manage – your to-do list in 2022?
#67GTD. Been using the gtd system with obsidian for almost 2 years now. I sometimes fall out of sync with it, particularly during high stress times where I lose the motivation to work in a disciplined way, but it’s never too hard to get things back under control. Most days I go through my next action lists when I’m thinking of stuff to do and review it each week to do any re org.
GTD (Getting Things Done) is definitely my answer. I use it for everything from planning my mom's birthday, to building features on an app, to managing a large team. The key is that it's a methodology and not a tool. It works just as well on paper or a basic list manager (e.g. trello, iOS Reminders) as it does in more complex tools like OmniFocus or Nirvana (and I'd argue you should start simple). No tool can give yo…
Thank you for sharing that podcast link. I have just finished listening to the episode while walking and found it so potentially beneficial to me that I was taking notes on my phone while walking.
I enjoy how this method is more about one's approach than the actual tool used. A yellow notepad or a few .txt files could work equally as well as a more complex "app". Those are the solutions that tend to work best for me. Let the content be as complex as needed and keep the tool simple.
Re: Ask HN: How do you manage – and remember to manage – your to-do list in 2022?
#68I just use my personal wiki to track To-Dos alongside notes. (Unless they're time-bound, then I use my calendar app). I use BookStack, but any wiki will do.
Re: Ask HN: How do you manage – and remember to manage – your to-do list in 2022?
#69Email inboxes for a few different accounts, sticky notes, incoming stack of bills on my desk, a few dozen browser tabs, bookmarks, Notes, calendar reminders in a couple different applications, the shelf in Intellij IDEA, JIRA, a Remarkable, my girlfriend's nagging, and a list in Notepad++ running under Wine of all my different todo lists so I don't forget any.
And I'm sure I'm forgetting some.
Re: Ask HN: How do you manage – and remember to manage – your to-do list in 2022?
#70GTD. Been using the gtd system with obsidian for almost 2 years now. I sometimes fall out of sync with it, particularly during high stress times where I lose the motivation to work in a disciplined way, but it’s never too hard to get things back under control. Most days I go through my next action lists when I’m thinking of stuff to do and review it each week to do any re org.
Could you share how you use Obsidian for GTD? Do you make use of the Kanban extension or something else?