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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)

#161

Post by doctor_eval »

psychlops wrote: post #133
doctor_eval wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree with your take. I am currently enduring a home builder who seems to think he doesn’t need to take notes. He has made so many errors and has had to do so much rework that he’s run out of time to fix legitimate problems. His belief in his ability to retain information way exceeds his ability. Understanding and accepting my own constraints and limitations helped me to become far better at what I do. People who don…

Even if your builder took notes, he would still have errors and omissions. In my experience with builders (and many other areas), it is my job to make sure they do their job. Notes or no notes. Same with waiters.

Not sure how you ensure waiters do their jobs. Do you follow them to the kitchen?!

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

#165

Post by aeturnum »

Personally, I feel that Todoist[1] has revolutionized how well I can track things. You can use it exactly like a text file, where each line / task is tracked individually. I'll often add tasks for my current day (that will fail over to tomorrow if I don't get to them). However it's real strength (compared to a text file) is in its features for repeating periodic tasks. Other products I've used struggle with irregular timing structures, but todoist simply understood (for example) "the first monday of every month" for street sweeping.

I still keep daily notes at times and track what I'm doing in other spots, but getting used to using Todoist to help me do periodic tasks at the proper rate has been one of the only productivity tools that felt like they "really worked." I pay for the app because not doing so would feel ungrateful, but I don't really use any of their premium features. The base app is more than good enough in my view.

[1] https://todoist.com/features

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

#166

Post by bomewish »

aeturnum wrote: post #165

Personally, I feel that Todoist[1] has revolutionized how well I can track things. You can use it exactly like a text file, where each line / task is tracked individually. I'll often add tasks for my current day (that will fail over to tomorrow if I don't get to them). However it's real strength (compared to a text file) is in its features for repeating periodic tasks. Other products I've used struggle with irregular…

+1 for Todoist here. Here is how I use it. Each project I do (dev stuff, research stuff) gets a ‘project’ in todoist, and I use the ‘boards’ view. Then, each project is going to have a bunch of mini-projects (e.g. end-to-end data project needs to build web scraper, set up database, set up backups, set up frontend) — then each column on the board is one of these sub-projects and all the tasks go underneath them. It is really great software and I’ve used it for many years and pay for it now.

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

#167

Post by endofreach »

materielle wrote: post #112
et-al wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 cr…

No disrespect, but having / performing hobbies doesn't fall under "being productive" for me. You're just spending time randomly however you see fit (and seem to be happy with the outcome). Which is a nice thing, but probably the exact opposite of what is discussed here.

Sure, if you wander around, you can see nice places. But planning a trip, because you want to see specific sights, is something different. Both are nice ways, depending on what you want from life.

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

#168

Post by psychlops »

doctor_eval wrote: post #161
psychlops wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if your builder took notes, he would still have errors and omissions. In my experience with builders (and many other areas), it is my job to make sure they do their job. Notes or no notes. Same with waiters.

Not sure how you ensure waiters do their jobs. Do you follow them to the kitchen?!

Remind them when they inevitably forget. Unless they remember, then they get tipped more. I hadn't thought of following them to the kitchen....maybe next time. ;)

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

#169

Post by swah »

renewiltord wrote: post #118

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 cogniti…

What about attachments? :) Comments on new stuff on that topic? Etc. I need more, at least something like Todoist/Ticktick...

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

#170

Post by Full_Clark »

I use the notes app on my phone and I'm also split between two calendar apps and three email accounts, none of which integrate well with each other.

It's a real dog's breakfast of a system and while I forget few things, I procrastinate many of them because the act of even trying to track what's done vs outstanding is very taxing.

ahh well, c'est la vie

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