I know it has a bit of a cultish vibe around it, but the "getting things done" method has worked really well for me.
Ask HN: How do you organize everything you want to do?
191–200 of 291 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do you organize everything you want to do?
#192I know it has a bit of a cultish vibe around it, but the "getting things done" method has worked really well for me.
I love GTD - I carry an index card with my latest lists on and a couple of spares for notes. I love having it physical, easy and disposable - I like throwing them out each week and starting fresh.
Re: Ask HN: How do you organize everything you want to do?
#193Earlier quoted context omitted.
I second this recommendation with a suggestion that has hugely helped me. I have more or less copied the approach to to-do lists described in that book into a Trello board and then – importantly – made it my home page on Chrome. This accomplishes two things for me: 1) any time I open a new tab, I get a reminder of what needs to be done 2) adding an item or recording an idea to be processed later is just a cmd-t away.…
Could you provide a template for you trello board?
Here's my setup, it's pretty similar to the other person's:
Followup: stuff that I'm blocked on (e.g. maybe I'm waiting on someone, maybe I have to let something run for some time, etc)
Doing: stuff I'm actively working on
To Do: stuff I plan to do in the near term
Inbox: everything starts here
Backlog: stuff I want to eventually do
Anything I finish I archive.
Re: Ask HN: How do you organize everything you want to do?
#194I have kind of an open question but: do we have a way to quantify what it means to get something done? For example, I feel in my heart that I can solve any problem, given enough time and resources. Sometimes I don't get even 1 important thing done in a day. Meanwhile I watch other people get what seems like 10-100 things done in a single day. Then they do it again the next day, consistently, their entire lives. Which…
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Re: Ask HN: How do you organize everything you want to do?
#195One of the highest forms of procrastination, but it seems it's much easier to come up with ideas than to execute them. The best system I ever had consisted of papers that I just hammered up on a wall using nails. Such a good system it has a spatial element to it that is just fantastic. Might want to check with your landlord first though. Other than that I do trello, notes that I have in a directory and keep track of…
You could use tape adhesive, no need for nails doctor Jones.Landlord is such happy.
I happened to have a room with messed up walls. The nail and hammer had a nice feel to it, a nice contrast to the tidy rationality that coding requires.
Re: Ask HN: How do you organize everything you want to do?
#196I would recommend for you to read and implement the organization/productivity system from Getting Things Done by David Allen [0]. It discusses essentially your main problems of dividing up your life into projects and timing yourself. The system also includes sections for putting some of your ideas in an 'Incubate', basically putting it off for another day once you get through what you have. Having a running list of a…
I’m really very surprised that so many people recommend GTD. I absolutely hated the book. It felt like he was trying to sell the book for half of it. The techniques are very outdated and manual. It requires a huge amount of categorization to the point of way too much. I tried it, and really strongly do not recommend it in any way. It’s like Org Mode in emacs. Feels like most people just recommend it because they boug…
I agree -- the two things I took from it were to write everything down and to do things immediately that will take less than 2 minutes. Other than that it was overkill for me.
Re: Ask HN: How do you organize everything you want to do?
#197Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'll answer both your questions here: > Were you raised with discipline in mind – as in, were your parents/guardians promoting discipline within you? Did you get to it yourself? Good questions. I think I was raised with less forced discipline than most kids. I say forced because there was necessary discipline. My family didn't have much so when I was old enough to want money to buy things that meant finding a job. Wi…
> It took months one time for me to add 5# to my dead lift. Holy cow! I would've quit after a few days of no progress. Thank you for this reply. The workout felt good . I did a little bit of push-ups, squats, and plank, and it was a major boost already. Last time I exercised was a week ago. How did you start? Was it the school PE? your parents' example?
By that point I had been dead lifting for years. Every 5# I added over 500# was a struggle. Some days progress was measured by lifting the bar 1” off the ground.
How did I start? Many years ago in my early 20s I thought I had it all. Great fiancé, good job, and a good life. I could see my whole future and it was good. Through a bunch of random circumstances I started playing DAoC (old school mmo). I had always played games for fun, so no big deal.
Fast forward 2 years and every waking moment I had that I wasn’t working I was playing DAoC. I was still doing my job, but I was certainly not excelling. Eventually my fiancé left me. Even though I quit DAoC Soon after, it was too late to get her back. It reminds me of a scene in Mushashi where he asks the priest why he tied him to a tree. The response was he tied tied those ropes himself - exactly as I had done.
Suddenly I had all this time, was getting pudgy, was depressed, and couldn’t sleep. My apartment had a gym so I started working out doing things like you just did today. Suddenly I was tired enough to sleep again, my confidence came back, and I had a new focus.
Later I found powerlifting and it was like finding zen. Take the craziness of the day, complexity of work, and relationships and throw all that out. While of course there is proper technique, the dead lift is simple. See that weight? Pick it up. Repeat :)
From that one self discipline decision to stop DAoC and then start working out so many other things presented themselves. I went back and finished grad school, excelled at better and better jobs, and today 15+ years later I’m married to a great woman.
I certainly have not perfectly followed self discipline this whole time, but even just the little I had made great changes for me. If I can be the catalyst for even just a single person to do the same, I’m happy :)
Re: Ask HN: How do you organize everything you want to do?
#198I use Trello and one private board named 'Focus'. I set weekly/monthly/quarterly and year goals there and select projects I want to focus right now on in life.
Re: Ask HN: How do you organize everything you want to do?
#199As a tool, I use Org mode in Spacemacs (Emacs) with a variation of the following setup.
http://doc.norang.ca/org-mode.html
This is the most comprehensive setup I found, and I have modified it to suit my workflow.
I use dropbox to save all the Org files, which I can open (view/edit) on my phone with Orgzly.
As a philosophy, I don't do everything I write in the task list. It is just there to keep my mind empty to think clearly. I actively find tasks to take off the list - by delegating it, by paying someone else to do it, or by just saying no to those tasks.
Re: Ask HN: How do you organize everything you want to do?
#200A little over 10 years ago, I realized my life was a total disorganized wreck. My career as a software developer had stagnated, my side real estate venture hit the same hard times that everyone else hit, I was teaching fitness classes on the side as a “working hobby”, and I was still reeling from the effects of a divorce.
I decided to simplify my life, decided what goals are important in the grand scheme of things and refocus. It’s s lot easier to organize when you aren’t trying to do so much.
1. I got out of the dating scene and just started hanging out with friends, freeing up my time to focus.
2. I cut down on teaching to just enough to stay healthy. After I started dating my now wife, I cut it out entirely.
3. I did a lot of hard work to get my career on track.
Now my life is really simple to organize and it’s all about just having a schedule.
1. Health - I have a home gym and set aside 6 hours a week on my calendar to work out.
2. My wife and I have a shared calendar so we know what’s going on and we put our date nights on it at least once every pay period.
My son and I have “hair cut days” every two weeks where we get our haircuts and just hang out.
I also schedule time to hang out with friends once a month at least.
3. Career. I choose jobs that will keep me current with technology so I’m not required to do side projects to stay competitive. I also spend at least one hour in the morning, studying toward my agenda items of new to me technologies/frameworks I want to bring into work. I might also do a quick proof of concept.
I do have a list of things I want to learn but no real schedule. Whenever it gets done between personal studying and work it gets done.
Every one is at a different point in life, but I enjoy having a mostly care free, check list free life, and coming home to my wife and just relaxing.
For work, I break my task down to measurable chunks and do the best I can. If I worked as hard as I can and it’s still going to miss it’s deadline, it just does and I tell them far in advance. I go home in a reasonable time and so don’t answer emails after hours.