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Get things done with Emacs

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Re: Get things done with Emacs

#71

Post by SoftTalker »

todd8 wrote: post #8

Thank you for the detailed write up. (I hope the author sees this) I'm always impressed with Emacs users that are capable of such discipline. I've use Emacs well over forty years, with only a few years of interruption, but I have never had a stable or well organized configuration. It's inspirational to see other's use of Emacs. I'm disorganized, and I'm a hoarder (right now, my bedroom has at least 100 books stacked…

It's not really the use of Emacs, it's the discipline. Emacs is a good tool, but the people who are super organized with Emacs would be super organized with anything, including a paper notebook.

I say this as an Emacs user who has used org-mode for project planning and task/time management.

Re: Get things done with Emacs

#72

Post by KryDos »

I love such readings, they often inspire me to start (at this moment "to keep") my "digital organizers" in shape but I always been wondering for how long people can keep such dedication to the process and how the process becomes useful later.

I started with GTD a long time ago, I don't even remember what digital tool I used at that time. Then I switched to Todoist, then Wunderlist, then some cli tools like Taskwarrior, then org-mode, then Evernote + various todo apps then Obsidian + org-mode (org-roam is awesome but I need GOOD mobile support) so my GTD is not even a GTD now in it the original sense.

And I still don't see any serious benefits from the process. Sure, tasks are there and I'm aware of them, I look at them and do them. But that's it. For some reason, I expected super productivity from myself while doing all this. I don't see myself productive still. Especially comparing to the author and many other authors of similar posts. I'm pretty sure I could track all those tasks in one Evernote note or Obsidian file or one Org file or even in one piece of paper (no mobile support though) and stay on the same level of productivity I am right now.

My question(s) is. Is there anyone who make notes or track tasks for a more than a year period? How often do you change your workflow? Do you find it all useful and how the tracking helps you now? Was there any time you thanked yourself for doing all this during a long period of time?

p.s. I'm of course not talking about a "project" tasks in Jira or issues on Github. I'm talking about tracking/notting of your life(todos) and thoughts(notes).

Re: Get things done with Emacs

#73

Post by nequo »

KryDos wrote: post #72

I love such readings, they often inspire me to start (at this moment "to keep") my "digital organizers" in shape but I always been wondering for how long people can keep such dedication to the process and how the process becomes useful later. I started with GTD a long time ago, I don't even remember what digital tool I used at that time. Then I switched to Todoist, then Wunderlist, then some cli tools like Taskwarrio…

The author himself seems to have given up on following the described GTD process strictly.[1]

I have wondered this about productivity systems and hacks, too. With GTD, the key seems to be to get yourself over the edge of your resistance to get your tasks done. If you fundamentally resist the tasks you think you ought to be doing, GTD will probably not work long-term. For example because you hate some aspect of your job or you’re afraid about the outcomes of your tasks. If you just need a way to organize all the little actionable items because otherwise you lose track of them, GTD might work.

I also wonder if people that we normally see as productive (Nobel prize winners, etc.) need to force themselves to stick to a special GTD system, too, or if for them the resistance is weaker and their tasks end up getting done one way or another.

In any case, Emacs and Vim are great outlets for tinkering with productivity hacks. But the long-term solutions might need to be deeper.

[1] https://www.syntopikon.com/workflows/nicolas-rougier/

Re: Get things done with Emacs

#74

Post by gtdthrowaway3 »

KryDos wrote: post #72

I love such readings, they often inspire me to start (at this moment "to keep") my "digital organizers" in shape but I always been wondering for how long people can keep such dedication to the process and how the process becomes useful later. I started with GTD a long time ago, I don't even remember what digital tool I used at that time. Then I switched to Todoist, then Wunderlist, then some cli tools like Taskwarrio…

I'd argue that any tool or system of any kind is for when you are in need of assistance. Whatever gets you up to momentum each day, refreshes context, minimizes malaise, and maximizes just knocking things out one by one.

Let me frame it another way. If you did the couch to 5k over the course of a few months and succeeded, is it the app that got you to running consistently or is it the fact that it kickstarted you into momentum. There is no ideal. There's whatever makes you feel like you did good work on the right things today and that momentum for tomorrow seems like you've got the right tools in place to get there and forgive yourself when you fall off the wagon. Don't worry about specifics other than that whatever you engage in seems to give you momentum at a pace you find appropriate.

Re: Get things done with Emacs

#75

Post by mszcz »

A little OT but that is one beautifully put together website. The fonts, font weights, colors, layout, the way the different block types are visually distinctive. A joy to look at, really.

edit: Does anyone know if this is some kind of a style framework that's available publicly or authors own doing?

Re: Get things done with Emacs

#76

Post by wanderingmind »

d3nj4l wrote: post #51
m4lvin wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which app did you try? I use Orgzly http://www.orgzly.com/ for getting the agenda on my phone and for small edits. And whenever I want the full experience I run a real emacs on my phone in Termux. For syncing I use Syncthing.

I use iOS so I used Plain Org when it was launched. That was a while ago so I'm not entirely sure why I didn't like it. I can try giving it a spin again, but I stopped using org shortly after so I don't have a good sample to try it with.

Orgzly comes with a sample notebook that can be used as a template.

Re: Get things done with Emacs

#77

Post by m4lvin »

wanderingmind wrote: post #48
m4lvin wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which app did you try? I use Orgzly http://www.orgzly.com/ for getting the agenda on my phone and for small edits. And whenever I want the full experience I run a real emacs on my phone in Termux. For syncing I use Syncthing.

Use syncthing-fork and Tailscale and you can do realtime syncing on mobile networks of org mode files across multiple devices as well

Any reason you use syncthing-fork for that and not the original? I think mine syncs fine even on mobile data. Sometimes I turn on ZeroTier doing the same job as Tailscale/WireGuard, but syncthing seems to work already without that.

Re: Get things done with Emacs

#78

Post by presz »

comfypotato wrote: post #25
b3morales wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like you have a flourishing Anti-library: https://www.themarginalian.org/2015/03/24/umberto-eco-antili... > Read books are far less valuable than unread ones. The library should contain as much of what you do not know as your financial means, mortgage rates, and the currently tight real-estate market allows you to put there.

Sorry for being dense, but I couldn’t deduce from the source; does the “anti” just mean “unread”?

Most of the books in libraries are books most people haven't read, does that make every library an anti-library?

Re: Get things done with Emacs

#79

Post by bitwize »

nequo wrote: post #68
bitwize wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Arguing that Vim or Neovim run faster than Emacs is like saying that your single-engine sport aircraft moves faster than my best aircraft carrier. Vim vs. Emacs debates these days remind me of a story I read about an F-16 pilot and an A-10 Warthog pilot sitting in a bar, debating the merits of their respective planes. At one point the F-16 pilot said something like "Come on, you have to admit that an F-16 with AIM-…

> That said, it also has in common with the Warthog that its number is coming up and it is probably soon to be retired permanently because the landscape has evolved out from underneath it. Do you think so? Unlike the Warthog, Emacs has also been evolving. Doesn’t LSP close a large part of the gap with IDEs?

Emacs still has no parallel multithreading, very poor async support, lots of global state everywhere, and you still have to contend with Emacs Lisp. So no, I say it hasn't evolved to keep up with the state of the art.

Re: Get things done with Emacs

#80

Post by WaffleIronMaker »

Narishma wrote: post #56
jonnycomputer wrote: post #17

Side comment about the presentation on the blog. Looks like old type-written page, with color. Very clean style, very readable. I like it. The CSS style sheet has the author's name on it, so I guess it is their work. Good job!

It was hard to read for me due to low contrast.

Agreed. I also had trouble reading the content. Especially the blockquotes.
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