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

jeffhuang.com

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

#331

Post by mercer »

lkrubner wrote: post #318

I do this too, since 2005. Part of the reason I do this was because between 1995 and 2005 I experimented with a bunch of different software, and the software kept being deprecated. I forget a lot of the software that existed at the time. I used a bunch of early web apps, in the 1990s, all of which disappeared, and I used some interesting experiments with desktop productivity apps, all of which were discontinued, and…

Oof, same here. I have notes and journal entries going back at least a decade, but there are a few frustrating gaps where I used apps like Day One, or built my own rickety tool using, say, RethinkDB.

While it's possible to somehow get my data back, it would be in a weird format or just a hassle to retrieve. I now use text files for everything (and mostly keep everything in emacs/org-mode).

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

#332

Post by aphroz »

I also use a single file, but I never save it, when my computer crash or I reboot, i lose everything in it. It helps me do the important things right away and keep temporary information in case I need them, but not believe that they will get done just because I put them on my list.

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

#333

Post by epicgiga »

I like dead simple solutions like this; in general when people reach for new tools or abstractions they swing further away from greatest productivity, not closer.

But sometimes it's weak. I once had a junior dev who logged his time in a single text file, by actually typing out the times he started and stopped doing things. Using a (simple) stopwatch tool is clearly more effective than that.

What I use: - Google keep, for basic notes and todos - Alarms for things that have to happen at a certain time. Outside of collaborative work I've never felt the value in calenders. I'm not a machine and I need my slack. - Toggl for keeping track of time spent on productive things. Time is the most valuable thing we all have, so keeping track of where it's going is critical, even if it's just knowing how many hours you worked this week. - For collaborative work, a project management tool like Jira. Yes they add friction, but they're the only way I've seen to effectively keep everyone on the same page and maintain a single source of truth of project status. The biggest problem with them (other than having irritatingly complex and slow UIs) is usually the guy driving them making a dumpster fire out of them, not the tool itself.

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

#334

Post by alpaca128 »

tikej wrote: post #215
alpaca128 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my Emacs setup org-mode has at least two reproducible bugs(that I know of) and one feature that's obviously implemented in a more complicated way than necessary. That said it is a fantastic package with some great ideas.

Can you please elaborate on the bugs and feature?

When I enter a new line within source blocks(but often also outside) it starts to wiggle horizontally. It only stops after I revert-buffer or add another line. Calling comment-line in an elisp source block causes a syntax error because it'll also split up the line below.

And the time tracking feature doesn't work across Emacs restarts, because for some reason it seems to rely on some timer running in the background. That's not really necessary as all that's needed is calculating the difference between two timestamps and inserting the result in a plain text file.

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

#336

Post by turrini »

numbers wrote: post #77
foobarian wrote: post #44

My text file just turned 21 :) I tried various automation things, org mode, scripts, markup for time spent (so I can automate timesheets, ugh) but none of it stuck. org mode in particular is like a straitjacket with the indentation rules. So text file it is. I do keep command lines in it occasionally but ever since I started using eternal bash history that I version control I stopped recording those separately very m…

When you say “eternal bash history” how long is that? I thought after some large number it becomes very slow. I’d like to try this if you don’t mind sharing how you did that?

My bash history is currently with 12MB, not slow at all.

I use this format:

  HISTTIMEFORMAT="[%F %T] "
  HISTFILESIZE=1000000000
  HISTSIZE=10000000
  readonly HISTTIMEFORMAT
  readonly HISTFILESIZE
  readonly HISTSIZE
  export HISTTIMEFORMAT
  export HISTFILESIZE
  export HISTSIZE
  # To always append, never overwrite history
  shopt -s histappend
So I get this output:

   [2020-02-09 07:18:30]

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

#337

Post by JoachimS »

gorgoiler wrote: post #140
lostlogin wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m in your camp. Apple Notes somehow fell into this gap for me. For me the ability to format, add images and screenshots and easily share gave it an edge over plain text.

I loved notes for years but switched to Bear in the last few months in order to get sane Markdown export. I couldn’t ever find a nice way of exporting (and backing up) my Notes notes. There was an IMAP storage option but that meant losing formatting options.

I'm also using Bear for note taking. It is a great tool that includes a nice way to export documents with style. One thing I struggle with is taking notes for things not related to work. This might be because I have a separate set of notes for work and not work. After reading the article I've decided to try and use one diary for everything. One note per day, but all in one place.

A few things I miss for this to be really good are:

1. Folding. A single file will be long. Being able to fold the major sections (# Work, # Private # Projects) would be really helpful. It seems Bear is planning to add folding.

2. Security. One can select all notes under a given tag (for example #Diary), but if they contain an attachment - for example an image, the password based encryption can't be applied.

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

#338

Post by iancmceachern »

I do something similar but with paper and pen. I purchase customized laboratory notebooks that have my name and a serial number embossed on the front and otherwise blank pages. I write down every meeting I attend (or call into), the date and time of their start and stop, all the attendees names, as well as regular to do lists, action items, etc. After years of doing this I have a nicely curated collection of notebooks that look great on the shelf and give me a sense of pride and history on my work. I took the inspiration from George Washington's diarys which are in the library of congress. I also use a fancy fountain pen with beautiful blue ink which my wife purchased for me that adds an extra bit of personality to the whole experience. https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0010/gwdiary.html

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

#339

Post by aetherspawn »

Dontrememberit wrote: post #287
aetherspawn wrote: post #285

I use the Notes app on my phone to do non work-related stuff in my everyday life. I have everything on there - buying groceries, washing clothes, getting stuff dry cleaned, washing the car. Whatever. As soon as I get a spare moment, I scan the list (about 20 items) and do a little travelling salesman solution - what can I knock off this list in about 2 hours, and what’s the most efficient route to drive to get all th…

Hey, I hope you figure a way to back up this stuff, since phones are prone to be lost or stolen (or is it backed up automatically by Google or Apple?)

Yes, I use iCloud so the todo list syncs across to my iPad as well.
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