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I tried every todo app and ended up with a .txt file

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Re: I tried every todo app and ended up with a .txt file

#41

Post by titusjohnson »

For work I use Logseq, but I treat it like a .txt file. 90% of my use is the daily journal pages, adding NOW and LATER todos, notes, whatever. The ability to link nodes to other pages or nodes is just good enough to beat out a .txt.

For my personal life I use Things 4. I bought the Mac and iOS versions. Despite the steep price for the Mac version, I think it's worth it. I appreciate how the app is organized. I like that the "Inbox" dumping ground is totally separate from the "Today" queue, that it pulls in calendar events to the Today queue, and the differentiation of Anytime vs Someday. I would forget to check it too, if I hadn't placed a large widget right on my Home Screen. It's the first thing I see any time I unlock my phone, it helps a lot.

I am also an avid user of post-it notes. I like to keep a stack of them on my desk. These are for things I need to complete _today_, if not _up next_. This is how I stay focused when I'm in deep work. "add test for new sort fn", "better name for site/tenant var", "need new fixture for sortables", that kind of thing. When I leave my desk I should have no sticky notes on it, whatever left ends up in Logseq.

Re: I tried every todo app and ended up with a .txt file

#46

Post by cyrialize »

I'm a fan of Org Mode with Emacs [0] and using the app BeOrg [1] on my iPhone.

I have 3 main task files:

- todo.org for things I need to do

- backlog.org for things that I don't have to do now but should do in the future

- inbox.org for any random ideas or notes

The concept of an Inbox was taken straight from Getting Things Done [2].

I have different searches set up in BeOrg so that it is easy to view tasks from each different file.

This is definitely more complicated than a single file, but I like it mainly because it keeps my main task file (todo.org) organized. I also don't go through organizing my files that much either.

inbox.org is just a great place to dump anything, so I usually do a quick scan and either delete everything or refine it to the backlog.org.

For backlog.org, I'll usually just let things sit there and build up. After a while I'll realize that if something has been there for a long time, it probably isn't worth doing - or I already did it, so I delete it.

[0]: https://orgmode.org/

[1]: https://www.beorgapp.com/

[2]: https://hamberg.no/gtd

Re: I tried every todo app and ended up with a .txt file

#48

Post by hiq »

jasode wrote: post #25

I've had a plain TODO.txt file for over 20 years so I agree with all the benefits the author mentioned. However, I don't like it because without an app, there's no runtime loop to notify and alert me of what's coming up. This means I don't have "ambient awareness" of what's going on unless... I open the TODO.txt file ... manually scan it... then rescan it again and again multiple times per day. It's really tedious an…

What do you mean by coming up? Like a deadline?

For event-based things I tend to have a reminder on my calendar. If things are relatively important, you'd assign them some kind of priority; in a simple .txt file, I'd expect them to be at the top for instance.

If the file has too many important tasks (such that I lose track of them), it means that at least some of them are not actually important and they should be revisited. IIRC that's the point of the weekly review mentioned in the GTD book: don't assume your workflow keeps working as you use it, there is some regular maintenance involving taking a step back and revisitings tasks, prioritizations etc.

Re: I tried every todo app and ended up with a .txt file

#49

Post by eschneider »

jasode wrote: post #25

I've had a plain TODO.txt file for over 20 years so I agree with all the benefits the author mentioned. However, I don't like it because without an app, there's no runtime loop to notify and alert me of what's coming up. This means I don't have "ambient awareness" of what's going on unless... I open the TODO.txt file ... manually scan it... then rescan it again and again multiple times per day. It's really tedious an…

I've been running a text based todo/status doc for about that long and my hack for that particular problem is to occasionally do a scan and copy anything 'active' to the top (or bottom if you append to the end :) of the file. Yeah, there's a bit of duplication there (I usually just copy a short description and a pointer back to the date of the original so not so bad..), but it works for me.

Re: I tried every todo app and ended up with a .txt file

#50

Post by jerieljan »

refreeze654 wrote: post #14

I use Todoist in a very light weight fashion. I add tasks and they sit on my screen until they're done, basically identical to a text file. I've never used the points, projects, labels, etc. It does one thing a text file struggles at: scheduling recurring tasks and adding notes to a recurring task. I have annual reminders for infrequent, but important stuff. For example, I have a recurring annual task to review my in…

I have a similar setup in Todoist, it's just a reminder for scheduled recurring tasks like bills.

Funnily enough, I was quite savvy with the features several years ago but as my work changed and things aren't as easy to list down like a routine or in neatly defined projects and such.

And when regular tasks becomes freeform, it's no surprise that a plaintext file is sufficient.

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