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My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)

jeffhuang.com

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Re: My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)

#111

Post by AlecSchueler »

ravishi wrote: post #41

I use a similar system, but I duplicate and rename the file at the start of each day. Then I remove stuff that got done the previous day. Or stuff that is old and not relevant anymore. The system has evolved over the years. The greatest thing about it is how flexible it is. When faced with new requirements (new projects, job change, etc) I can just start taking notes in a different way and see if it sticks. I also co…

What are the benefits of keeping it in git? Are the commit messages useful?

Not trying to knock the idea, I just can't imagine branching or reverting or being curious about the history of a to-do list. Maybe it could be cool for statistics over time.

But I'm really curious to hear how you're using it!

Re: My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)

#112

Post by materielle »

et-al wrote: post #101
d--b wrote: post #77

I don't know how to articulate it, but I could never do anything like this. The ability to organize one's life like this is so foreign to me, it's almost like he's describing what it's like to be an octopus. I think it may be my emotional state that I can't manage. There is absolutely no way, I could decide what I'd be doing the next day every night. The thing is my state of mind would prevent me from doing half the…

I think the author is trying highlight that one doesn't necessarily fancy tools. The productivity space has so many options that it's easy for one to get overwhelmed with settling on the "best" option. My partner relies on a Leuchtturm weekly planner; my father bought into the whole Stephen Covey system; a coworker has a stack of Post-its, and I use a hodgepodge of Google Calendar (far off single events), Apple Notes…

I agree with the parent comment, but I would phrase it as:

This article feels so foreign to me because I’m not trying to be productive. I don’t have a productively system, because I’m not.

I complete my works tasks. Those usually have lists.

After work and on the weekends, I spend time with friends and family, and do hobbies as I enjoy them.

Beyond that, I don’t try to remember things. I let stuff slip through the cracks (ok, I have a planner for birthdays). I don’t try to get things done.

For what it’s worth, if you looked at my life on the outside, you’d probably think I was “productive”. I can speak multiple languages, I make music, I play sports, and I have various programming projects going.

But I don’t do any of those things because they are productive. Every day after work, I spend an hour or two doing whatever I enjoy in a completely non-systemic manner. And I find that over a multi-year time span you actually can accomplish a great deal with this “non-system”

Re: My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)

#113

Post by pwillia7 »

I ended up at the same point after a lot of trying and failing but wanted a _few_ extra features than notepad offers. It's also important to me to be able to take notes in a browser.

I do use logseq/obsidian in my better moments, but having another faster system is so helpful for a number of reasons.

I have been building my own text bookmarklet[0] that I use for this.

[0]: https://github.com/pwillia7/Text_Bookmarklet

Re: My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)

#114

Post by disillusioned »

There's a virtue in being able to take this and plug it into a large-enough-context-windowed ChatGPT to be able to search/converse with.

Makes me think that the real play is to use ChatGPT for, say, an ongoing todo list/dialog/personal notes system for that purpose. Or wire up a custom GPT to reference notes stored elsewhere.

Either way, the idea that you can interrogate, intelligently, a list of your own ramblings, is pretty damn cool.

Re: My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)

#115

Post by denvaar »

I am drawn to the idea of keeping todo lists, but it seems like whenever I start to do it, I begin to feel stressed out or overwhelmed. Not so much by the contents of the list, but by maintaining a list in and of itself. Kind of like an obsessive type of problem. Does anyone else feel this way?

Re: My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)

#116

Post by bobbylarrybobby »

pwillia7 wrote: post #113

I ended up at the same point after a lot of trying and failing but wanted a _few_ extra features than notepad offers. It's also important to me to be able to take notes in a browser. I do use logseq/obsidian in my better moments, but having another faster system is so helpful for a number of reasons. I have been building my own text bookmarklet[0] that I use for this. [0]: https://github.com/pwillia7/Text_Bookmarklet

I'm curious what the reasons for another faster system are? Obsidian is pretty fast for me; I can't imagine it being much faster.

Re: My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)

#117

Post by evnc »

Reminds me of Heynote, posted to HN recently[0].

In general I think this approach of "super easy capture into an append-only log" is great, especially if it can be paired with features to enable editing/re-discovery/search/synthesizing old ideas together, which exist in a separate view/mode from the "just get something down as fast as possible" mode. Working on something like this, but just in nights/weekends free time with other obligations, so it's been slow going.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38733968

Re: My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)

#118

Post by renewiltord »

Same. I saw a very productive friend just build a list like this:

    - Thing to do
      - Subtask before that can be done
        - Another level deeper
    - Another task
And he just deleted things from the list when done. I adopted it and quite like it. I've tried keeping it in git, using some tool, etc. but in the end the Notes app on Mac with the same format helped because I dislike the strike-through stuff. It just occupies cognitive space. Just deleting feels better.

Notes.app is nice as well because if I have it on a hot corner I can access it easily.

Re: My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)

#119

Post by Cthulhu_ »

denvaar wrote: post #115

I am drawn to the idea of keeping todo lists, but it seems like whenever I start to do it, I begin to feel stressed out or overwhelmed. Not so much by the contents of the list, but by maintaining a list in and of itself. Kind of like an obsessive type of problem. Does anyone else feel this way?

That's not unique, and also, it's often the trap of any productivity tool; doing things in the tool becomes a productivity goal and gets you the feeling of productivity in itself, instead of the tasks it's supposed to help you organise.

Re: My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)

#120

Post by Lyngbakr »

AceJohnny2 wrote: post #27

Obligatory reference to Emacs Org-Mode [1]. Author's approach is basically Org-Mode with fewer helpers. Org-mode's power is that, at core, it's just a text file, with gradual augmentation. Then again, Org-Mode is a tool you must install, accessible through a limited list of clients (Emacs originally, but also VSCode), and the power of OP's approach is that it requires no external tools . [1] https://orgmode.org

A nice thing about Org-Mode is that you can keep an active todo list in one file for daily tasks and then at the end of the day send all done items to an archive file (C-c C-x C-a). That way, you still have all your tasks in a searchable format if you ever need to go back to them, but the active file — which you open each day — is small and snappy.
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