My productivity app for the past 12 years has been a single .txt file

I have been using a single text (markdown) file for at least five years instead of the todo list I usually write what is done during the day and sometimes add important tasks that need to be done. I try to keep everything fairly plain and avoid overcomplicating the structure. For me this provides an easy way to go over the history, usually try to document more complex devops operations, decisions etc.

I use Sublime to keep the document open there, works really well with larger files.

Each day begins with separating section: # 08.02.2020 # ... # 09.02.2020 #

I've been doing this kind of thing for years, to the point of managing highly complex multi-million dollar multidisciplinary projects very successfully with basic text files.

When you get right down to it, it's the embodiment of a Kanban system in a text file. Because I have so much to manage every single project has its own text file in the relevant directory. In other words, I don't have one text file to rule them all. This makes sense because of the multidisciplinary nature of our work. I could be running Solidworks doing mechanical and optical design one day, coding FPGA's the following week, embedded software next and running Altium for electronics design at the same time. Each major discipline gets its own text file. I call them "Project Log - ".

This is what they would look like for a hypothetical home sprinkler controller:

    Project Log - Sprinkler Controller
     --------------------------------------------------- WORKING ON NOW
     - Chase down VC for that $25MM check
    
    --------------------------------------------------- TO DO
     - Decide on form factor
     - Decide on votage (12 or 24?)
     - Measure current of typical sprinkler valve
     - Draw basic block diagram
     - Conformal coating?
     - Start mechnical design
      - Injection mold of CNC machine enclosure?
      - Off the shelf enclosure a possibility?
     - Start electrical design
      - What type of connectors do we use?
      - Does it have to be IP-something rated?
    
    --------------------------------------------------- IDEAS
     - Nuclear powered?
      - Maybe solar power is better
     - Transparent case to see blinking LED's inside?
     - How about just buying one from Home Depot?
    
    --------------------------------------------------- CONTACTS
     - Talk to applications engineer at Arrow: @arrow.com
     - Talk to Intel about using new 20+ core processor: @intel.com
    
    --------------------------------------------------- RESEARCH
     - Article on the advantages of 32 core 64 bit processors for sprinkler systems
       http://example.com/32-core-processors-for-sprinkler-controllers
    
    --------------------------------------------------- DONE
     - Decide how many output channels we need
     - Decide on maximum BOM cost
     - Talk to VC's about raising $25MM for the 32 core 64 bit processor sprinkler controllers
       - We have one VC very interested in this!
    

Over the years this approach has proven to be highly effective in managing anything from small to very large and highly complex projects. I mostly use OneNote for research and note taking and, if team collaboration is required, a multi-user Kanban board where I distill relevant cards from my text files for the appropriate team/board.

Another nice thing about text-based Kanban is that it can travel with version control.

I’ve found OneNote very useful for Todo lists. It’s very flexible and supports collapsible nested lists. But the killer feature is the “dock to desktop” feature, which makes the list always visible on my monitor. It forces me to stay on task and reminds me what to do next. I create a new page every week and copy over my remaining tasks from the last week. I’ve been doing this for 3 years now and haven’t looked back.

The more you worry about format, the more friction there is making to making notes. And you don't want friction, you want a sustainable habit.

Just dump stuff in. You'll figure out something that works over time. It's easy to get bogged down with meta-issues like infrastructure and custom Emacs macros and automatic replication and other yak-shaving nonsense that only adds complexity, which increases the likelihood that you'll drop the habit.

I've been using ultralist (https://ultralist.io) and love it. It's open source + command-line based.