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The Search for the Perfect To-do List

steveworsley.com

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Re: The Search for the Perfect To-do List

#91

Post by cellularmitosis »

Chris2048 wrote: post #28

I haven't found a decent ToDo list with this killer feature: dependencies. I want to mark a task as dependant on another being done. I want to add time estimates to those tasks, and see a gantt chart. I want tasks to show the sum of their dependencies estimates next to their own estimates. I want priorities to also flow through dependency chains in this manner - if a high priority task is dependant on a low priority…

Another feature I've found lacking is that most todo / project management systems are all based around "work hours", and the assumption that you can count on every resource reliably putting in 40 hours per week.

Personal projects look nothing like that. This week I might have 2 hours for it, next week maybe zero hours.

Re: The Search for the Perfect To-do List

#92

Post by meesterdude »

It's interesting all the solutions people come up with to tackle GTD. I don't think i've met two people with the same implementation. But really, whats important is finding something that works for you, and thats different for everyone.

Relatedly, I built something for myself, but am working on launching it. I wasn't satisfied with any GTD options out there, and really just wanted a brain for my brain. Something i could just dump thoughts and todos into and it would automatically manage them for me.

You can actually see some of this in action in the screenshot from a recent update: http://blog.mindaux.com/blog/2016/02/27/sneak-peak-beta-acce...

Re: The Search for the Perfect To-do List

#93

Post by maigret »

kaitai wrote: post #89
slantyyz wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you might be blurring the lines between task management and to do lists. To do lists are what the name implies, a list of things to do. Once you start adding things like dependencies, etc. to a to do list, it's not really a to do list any more. If you are going to be that detailed about how you do your tasks, then a traditional Project Management tool (like Microsoft Project) is probably what you need. Sure i…

There's something in that space, though! Before I can have friends to dinner, I need to buy the ingredients, but before I buy the ingredients it would be good to print the recipes so I don't need to go back to the store. Also, I need to clean the dining room a bit which involves moving the elephant out of the room and into the garage. Two little streams with deadlines: move elephant, print recipes today. I worked on…

For this problem, Getting Things Done says you should only record the next task. The second doesn't interest you as you only need to think about it once you're done with the first.

Work projects have multiple dependencies because they involve often many people, but Agile has been also pushing backward the desire to plan too much in advance.

Re: The Search for the Perfect To-do List

#96

Post by JadeNB »

miguelrochefort wrote: post #69
Chris2048 wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's be interesting for a company like google to tackle this, e.g. "Your Todo item suggests you are wanting to bake a cake soon? You hovered over a cake recipe using vanilla pods. The store nearby stocks Foo brand vanilla pods for $12..." Maybe a little too complex though ;-D

Most likely, you just want a cake and don't care to bake it. A big obstacle to collaboration and global productivity is the assumption that it is cheaper/better to make something yourself rather than purchase it. It couldn't be further from the truth. An expert baker will bake cheaper and better cakes than I ever could. > Maybe a little too complex though ;-D It is more important than it is complex. Humanity has wait…

> An expert baker will bake cheaper and better cakes than I ever could.

An expert baker can bake better and (possibly) cheaper cakes, but it is not necessarily in his or her interest to do so. It may be more practical to make the worst cakes that will sell, and then sell them for as much as the market can bear. (For example, McDonald's employs expert chefs.)

Re: The Search for the Perfect To-do List

#97

Post by pedrokost »

The blog Post rings a tune with me. I've started organizing all the work related projects into Trello boards,and have iterated quite a bit on my workflow.

Next to a board for scrum, I also have a board reserved for planning work things to do in the long term future, like a backlog, but coverings many different aspects of company mostly related to software dev, but also some hardware and marketing.

Eventually I wanted to be able to measure how long would it take to complete some tasks, and prioritize them across lists.

The way I solved this way with a plugin for sublime text, the editor I use all day long [0]. The plugin reads metadata I add to each task on Trello like (backend 1d design 4h) and uses it to compute a schedule for all my tasks. It is also able to prioritize between posts, which in in my case are fucus areas.

When I need to prepare the next sprint, all I have to to is use the plugin to tell me which tasks have the highest priorities, and occasionally review the Planning board.

The plugin was initially developed for Trello, but I found it really useful also for offline task scheduling between different projects.

You can read more about how I use it on my blog [1].

[0]https://github.com/pedrokost/STProjectPlanner [1]http://blog.pedro.si/2015/11/project-planning-in-file.html?m...

Re: The Search for the Perfect To-do List

#98

Post by rekado »

ZenoArrow wrote: post #8

I just end up using text files or written notes. Works both as a to do list and idea scratchpad. The only thing I'd want to change is be more organised about keeping the text files in sync (we can't use Dropbox at work, so I end up using emails). I've heard good things about org mode in emacs, wonder what added value I'd get from that.

One thing you get from org mode is agendas. They are generated according to your specifications (e.g. "all tasks this week" or "all items tagged NEXT") from the clutter of a directory full of org files. I was never much into org mode until I found that I don't actually need to keep order as long as I just tag items.

I'm using org mode to implement some form of GTD.

Re: The Search for the Perfect To-do List

#99

Post by antognini »

I've found WorkFlowy [1] to be helpful. It's just a touch more sophisticated than a text editor (you can collapse different levels, for instance, and there's an app so you can take notes on your phone, too). But it's not so sophisticated that you get lost in the features. It gets out of the way so you can make your lists. I've been using it for years now.

[1]: https://workflowy.com

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