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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)

#211

Post by theonething »

danielrk wrote: post #193

I used to use a .txt file like this for over 10 years that I edited with Vim and could also edit on my phone using Dropbox. And then I used the Mac Notes app and realized the search, sync, autosave experience, and other properties made Notes way more useful for me. Similarly, for over 10 years I used to compile my CV with LaTeX using a fancy template I designed, until I realized the time it took to edit it was just n…

> used the Mac Notes app

But then it's not Vim.

That was a little tongue in cheek, but seriously, I need Vim when I write/edit text. Currently have a todo.txt that's on iCloud.

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

#212

Post by danielrk »

theonething wrote: post #211
danielrk wrote: post #193

I used to use a .txt file like this for over 10 years that I edited with Vim and could also edit on my phone using Dropbox. And then I used the Mac Notes app and realized the search, sync, autosave experience, and other properties made Notes way more useful for me. Similarly, for over 10 years I used to compile my CV with LaTeX using a fancy template I designed, until I realized the time it took to edit it was just n…

> used the Mac Notes app But then it's not Vim. That was a little tongue in cheek, but seriously, I need Vim when I write/edit text. Currently have a todo.txt that's on iCloud.

Haha. I still use Vim for coding and for the rare occasions where I need to edit text that needs to be in a plain txt file.

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

#213

Post by c-smile »

Original EverNote (v 2.0, first public version) was built on that idea - endless tape of notes : https://notes.sciter.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/evernote...

Plain text is OK, or Markdown as poor man WYSIWYG for that matter, but at least images should be there too.

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

#214

Post by gercius »

tasty_freeze wrote: post #195

At my first job out of college in 1985 I worked for a unknown, unsuccessful mainframe company. I started a TODO.TXT file when I arrived; when I left a year later I put my TODO.TXT (along with ADDRESS.TXT, DATES.TXT) on a 5.25" floppy and took it with me to the next company, and the next, and the next. I didn't buy my own computer until 1997, and those files finally made it to a machine I own and control. Those files…

You would (probably) like obsidian

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

#215

Post by steve1977 »

m463 wrote: post #188
AlecSchueler wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!

I find that files under revision control have one awesome property: they can be ruthlessly minimal. The intermediate note-to-self stuff, the reference material, the stuff that was cancelled, all can be deleted. But you have the peace of mind that you can get it back. This might be especially important if it is a text file you run your life with. My neighbor needs the name of the plumber we used. What was the amount o…

> My neighbor needs the name of the plumber we used. What was the amount of the bill? When did I order xyz last? What was the size of the wiper blades of my car?

But how do you look that information up in git?

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

#216

Post by lelanthran »

tasty_freeze wrote: post #195

At my first job out of college in 1985 I worked for a unknown, unsuccessful mainframe company. I started a TODO.TXT file when I arrived; when I left a year later I put my TODO.TXT (along with ADDRESS.TXT, DATES.TXT) on a 5.25" floppy and took it with me to the next company, and the next, and the next. I didn't buy my own computer until 1997, and those files finally made it to a machine I own and control. Those files…

I did pretty much the same thing for years, using Emacs org mode (same hyperlinked setup).

Then I used vim using `CTRL-Wgf`, same as you.

Then I added to my .bash_profile:

     alias todo='vim ~/.todo'
Then I test drove a bunch of todo apps (yeah, Obsidian too).

The problem I found with this, eventually, is that it's really not great at allowing me to perform my most common workflow:

     push-context -> start-new-thing -> finish-new-thing -> pop-context
Or

     switch-context $OLD-THING -> switch-context $NEW-THING -> switch-previous-context
Or even

     switch-previous-context -> switch-previous-context (repeat ad nauseum)
Or

     switch-to-most-recent-context-in-admin -> switch-to-most-recent-context-in-other-project
etc.

Really, my tasks are not lists, they aren't even items to do. They're contexts which I want to switch to, switch between, discard once done (to maintain high SNR), branch off from, etc.

It's context management. A todolist app isn't going to cut it, and in fact, none of them did.

For the last 6 months or so I've been happily using a small tool I developed for myself, to suit my workflows (like the ones above). Even made a GUI for it.

It's the only thing I've used since I started with TODO files in the 90s that gets better at managing my contexts over time. Everything else gets worse over time, because the mismatch between what I want (context management) and what they provide (TODO items management) can easily be negligible when first using it with few items entered, but as that list grows so does the magnitude of the mismatch in what I want and what they do.

It's missing remote sync but I'll eventually add that in (so I can use it from the phone eventually). Easily the best 1 week I've ever spent on a project.

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

#217

Post by lelanthran »

danielrk wrote: post #193

I used to use a .txt file like this for over 10 years that I edited with Vim and could also edit on my phone using Dropbox. And then I used the Mac Notes app and realized the search, sync, autosave experience, and other properties made Notes way more useful for me. Similarly, for over 10 years I used to compile my CV with LaTeX using a fancy template I designed, until I realized the time it took to edit it was just n…

> Similarly, for over 10 years I used to compile my CV with LaTeX using a fancy template I designed, until I realized the time it took to edit it was just not worth it.

I went the opposite way - trying to typeset[1] in word processors just became too hard as changed CV to emphasise some things over others.

My CV[2] in LaTeX was extremely quick to adjust for someone else who wanted an identically formatted CV.

[1] I like the ability to do proper boxes all over the page for things that require box-models, like advertisments, which is what your CV actually is!

[2] In case you are interested in what the output looks like: https://www.lelanthran.com/downloads/resume-1page.pdf

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

#219

Post by dewey »

steve1977 wrote: post #215
m463 wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that files under revision control have one awesome property: they can be ruthlessly minimal. The intermediate note-to-self stuff, the reference material, the stuff that was cancelled, all can be deleted. But you have the peace of mind that you can get it back. This might be especially important if it is a text file you run your life with. My neighbor needs the name of the plumber we used. What was the amount o…

> My neighbor needs the name of the plumber we used. What was the amount of the bill? When did I order xyz last? What was the size of the wiper blades of my car? But how do you look that information up in git?

You can just search over all the diffs, that’s how I sometimes do it in Fork.app

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

#220

Post by blowski »

briHass wrote: post #179
blowski wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Heavily guard your morning time, and don't even open your email/chat programs until closer to lunch. At least for me (maybe it's the caffeine rush), but that morning block is the most valuable/productive time of my day and going down a rabbit hole early can kill the rest of my day's accomplishments. In my previous role, I worked with a primarily West Coast team (being East Cost, myself), and it was wonderful having t…

I used to work like this with email, to the point that I’d intentionally not sync emails for a few hours. But in my company, everything is done through “SlackOps”. Incidents (including alerts) line management duties, deployments, getting access to environments. Plus lots of information I need is in Slack.

Maybe some combo of Zapier, extracting into local text, and strict observance of non-slack time and I could make it work.

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