My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)
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Re: My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)
#2> Every night before I go to bed, I take all the items on my calendar for the next day and append it to the end of the text file as a daily todo list, so I know exactly what I'm doing when I wake up. T
This is a key win. Most of the rest he describes is support (also cruicial). But setting up your day the night before is amazingly powerful. Many of the things I plan for the day I actually schedule into my calendar (12:30-13:00 read and respond to those three unanswered messages from Jane).
Re: My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)
#3I noticed your format is pretty close to markdown, which is itself just ascii. Might as well go all the way.
Re: My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)
#4> Every night before I go to bed, I take all the items on my calendar for the next day and append it to the end of the text file as a daily todo list, so I know exactly what I'm doing when I wake up. T This is a key win. Most of the rest he describes is support (also cruicial). But setting up your day the night before is amazingly powerful. Many of the things I plan for the day I actually schedule into my calendar (1…
This is the challenge of the modern manager, especially in remote jobs. You turn on the computer with a plan, and then 345 Slack messages and 10 Zoom meetings later, you consider working on it. As an EM, I really miss that state of flow and productivity.
I’m whinging because I see other managers that have nailed this so much better than me and I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.
Re: My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)
#5I'm doing something similar with Obsidian daily notes[^1]. I also have a weekly note that I use to plan the next week.
Similar to how the author talks about scheduling their next day the evening before, I've started planning the big tasks for next on Friday afternoon, as this gives me momentum on Monday morning.
Related: I've found the 3/3/3 technique from Oliver Burkeman[^2] and the concept of open and closed lists to be a great complement for this type of organization. It hits the sweet-spot of flexibility and consistency for me.
Re: My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)
#6OP uses their calendar as a supplement for their the todo file. There is a lot of functionality implied in that decision:
- calendars have mobile apps which enable quick and precise entry
- calendars understand time spans
- calendars have many options to display events
- calendars have cloud syncing
- calendars are backed by a queryable data store
Not saying using a text file is good or bad, but I think a more accurate title would be “my productivity app is a never ending txt file and a calendar app”
Re: My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)
#7[2022]
Re: My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)
#8I actually sent this to my friend as he always thought I'm crazy for doing this. Mine one is a bit simpler though, just a big .txt file with TODO and DONE sections. Some of TODOs just have dates next to them if they're urgent, otherwise it's just it's just a simple list.
That being said, I do use my calendar-equivalent app on my phone for very time-sensitive stuff, just in case.
Re: My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)
#9Previous:
My productivity app for the past 12 years has been a single .txt file (2020) (December 23, 2021 — 523 points, 202 comments)
Re: My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)
#10Interesting. I've been using Things (similar to Apple Reminders) for 10+ years, which I thought was really minimal, but a .txt is about as barebones as you can get. Makes me want to give it a whirl. Curious about the use of Remote Desktop with a mobile device. Being an iPhone user, I'd prefer putting it in iCloud Drive or something more easily accessible natively.