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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

#141

Post by doug_durham »

non- wrote: post #134

This is what I do with my "Daily Brain Dump". I use Apple Notes bc it syncs up nicely with my phone. Every day I add a new entry to the top of the note. Mix of TODO's and a journal. Actually have two files, one for my life in general and one for work.

Exactly this. I realized that full featured tools like OmniPlan made increased my anxiety because it is too easy the build up to do items that you would never do. Having a simple note pad forces me to delete unnecessary cruft every week since I have to manually copy it. Also the notes approach gives me one place to look for and summarize all of my activities.

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

#143

Post by happytoexplain »

picafrost wrote: post #140

To be honest, I have never understood the TODO "industry." Do people really have so many things to do, and is it really that difficult to keep track of them all? I do not know if it's just me but I feel completely alienated by these apps and articles.

>Do people really have so many things to do, and is it really that difficult to keep track of them all?

I think you can find the answer to this question by looking at the comment thread of any TODO/notes/task-tracking submission on HN.

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

#144

Post by brettermeier »

nosianu wrote: post #121
Igrom wrote: post #92

Reading through the comments under this thread, there are many users who swear by a plain text file, but who then build quite a lot of snowflake software to regain functionality offered by more structured TODO applications. That includes: - having your computer alert you to things that come up - being able to tag notes - being able to add events to a calendar - being able to set priority of tasks - expecting prioriti…

> - having your computer alert you to things that come up If my own experience is a valid example, alerts are overrated. They don't work for long. I hate getting interrupted by something that actually does not need my attention at that precise moment. I would disable those alerts in no time. I prefer leaving physical cues in the real world. I think screens are bad UI unless you already spend way too much time in fron…

Alerts are most important, that's why paper doesn't work for me. I just write everything in my calender app in my phone.

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

#145

Post by thewebguyd »

douglee650 wrote: post #99

Then, finally you reach the last layer: a 4" x 6" notepad and pen that are always kept at your desk

I do this. I love good old fashioned pen and paper.

I've tried, many many times to use digital for both Todos and note taking and nothing ever stuck. Even tried using an iPad with GoodNotes & the Apple Pencil. Pen and paper is the only thing that has ever worked for me still. Plus I enjoy the physical sensation of writing things down physically, with a really nice pen and a high quality notebook.

So I always keep a notebook open on my desk, I intermix Todos and notes on sort of a "daily page" format, and I also carry a little field notes flip pad notebook with me everywhere I go. On the go it's also, oddly enough, less friction to write in my field notes book than it is to take out my phone, unlock it, and suffer through the horrible experience of typing anything out on a virtual keyboard.

OCR is readily available everywhere now so digitizing your handwritten notes, if you have to, is trivial.

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

#148

Post by scotty79 »

douglee650 wrote: post #99

Then, finally you reach the last layer: a 4" x 6" notepad and pen that are always kept at your desk

I prefer scraps of paper that eventually get spontaneously disposed of, regardless of whether I crossed all of the items from them.

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

#149

Post by thewebguyd »

benchly wrote: post #126
douglee650 wrote: post #99

Then, finally you reach the last layer: a 4" x 6" notepad and pen that are always kept at your desk

It's like Rumshpringa for TODO apps. Everyone wants to rebel from the old norms and go do something different, only to end up returning to the reliability, clarity and comfort of a good pen and pocket notebook. Big fan of the Rite-In-Rain notebooks, myself, and Fisher Space Pen's Cap-o-matic.

> Big fan of the Rite-In-Rain notebooks, myself, and Fisher Space Pen's Click-o-matic.

I carry this combo everywhere I go. Way less friction than taking out my phone, unlocking, and suffering the horrible experience of typing something on a virtual keyboard.

I do enjoy the looks I get from friends and family sometimes, as they all expect me to be high tech everywhere in my life but I'm probably one of the most low-tech people outside of work.

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

#150

Post by don_neufeld »

sigh

I've done the text file thing, and it’s fine. Up to a (very small) point.

What the author describes as their “workload” barely registers.

For context, for me, Things on any given day has over 100 individual actions, most of which are recurring.

By doing this, I can stay on top of an extremely broad surface area. There is no way a text file can handle the number of parallel work streams my (or really many) people have.

Broadly, for me these work stream are:

* Self Care

* Relationship

* Children

  * Special Needs (IEP, SSI, Conservatorship, GGRC, Medical, Special Needs Trust, etc)
* Friends

* Professional (BD, etc)

* Investments (Real Estate, Angel Investments, SEP, etc)

* Legal (LLCs, Litigation, Wills, etc)

* Financial (Quarterly and Annual Taxes in 2 countries, Insurance, etc)

* Home (Massive)

* Hobbies

* Vehicles

Without a serious amount of structure in the form of my todo system, there’s no way a person could manage this - certainly not with a text file.

Calendars very rapidly fall down for scheduled tasks that you can’t knock out the day of, they lack reminder functions, etc.

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