Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

al3rez.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

511–520 of 831 posts

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

#511

Post by btilly »

massysett wrote: post #302
btilly wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You give a long list of features that I don't want. And then go on to encourage everyone to switch text editors, and adopt a specific plugin that happens to work in the way that you personally like. As a vim user, this is kind of what I have come to expect from emacs users. Honestly, I'm glad that you've found something that works well for you. But I hope that some day you internalize the fact that other people aren'…

Don’t switch text editors, and don’t use a plugin. For a few years I used Orgmode. I didn’t use Emacs. That is, when I needed to edit text files, I used Vim or macOS TextEdit. I used Orgmode to track my tasks and keep notes. That Emacs was underneath it was purely incidental, and I didn’t use Emacs for anything else. For me, Orgmode was not a plugin. It was the primary software I used, and there was this Emacs thing…

And now you encounter the issue of, "a long list of features that I don't want".

It is hard to sell someone on a solution to a problem that they don't have.

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

#512

Post by nothrabannosir »

kilroy123 wrote: post #312
Aurornis wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What this shows to me, as someone who has committed some of the unholy crimes above, is that people want their system, however esoteric, to come naturally to them I think this is a vocal minority. Outside of internet comment sections, most everyone I know doesn’t care that much about their todo list software. The most productive people I ever worked with all had really minimal productivity software. For one person…

I strongly agree. I think it's a form of procrastinating. I read about all these complex systems for notes and second brains and whatnot. All procrastinating imho.

Same. I dabbled in the second brain fad for a while, until I realized I already have a first brain.

It was helpful to create new mental models, but I now much prefer using my actual brain to organize my thoughts.

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

#513

Post by jader201 »

I’ve dabbled with todo lists in the past, and keep coming back to — doing nothing.

At least with todo list apps specifically.

I have a pretty bad memory, so I’m the target audience for todo lists. But I think what’s worked for me has been a combination of:

- Keeping things simple. At work I try to only focus on one thing at a time. I have a bug tracker that’s used to track larger items (everyone uses the same tool), but it’s not a personal todo list in a more granular sense.

- Reminders app on the iPhone. I use this just so I don’t forget to do things that aren’t naturally top of mind. Or, at least things that should become a priority, but only at a later point. And I don’t have many times that I need these. Maybe a few times a month, and a few recurring ones.

But other than this, if it’s really that important, I’ll remember it anyway. And if I don’t, and it’s not tracked with a bug (work) or reminder (home), it’s not that important.

So unless you count the occasional use of the Reminders app, or our work bug tracker tool, then I’m currently not using any todo lists, and it’s been working fine.

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

#515

Post by meatstick »

Precious few task/todo apps have this exact combination of features I’m looking for:

* Native Mac, iOS, and Android apps, plus access via web

* Reminder notifications for native apps

* Start/defer dates AND due dates

* Option to recur from start/due dates or completed date

Todoist doesn’t support start dates. Things and OmniFocus support nearly all of these things, but aren’t available on Android. Nirvana doesn’t support notifications on desktop.

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

#517

Post by bitexploder »

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…

Most of this is solved by: todo list in one file. One list. Use markdown. Try Obsidian. Read Randy Pausch last lecture. Look at his todo list. Copy that. Use a calendar if it is time sensitive. Look at your todo list often. Want to be fancy? Have an inbox file that is also a list. Your backlog is stuff that moves down to priorities other than 1. Try the Covey quadrants for your task priorities. Don’t over complicate this.

You can make an art form out of procrastinating on real tasks to create the most perfect todo system ever. We got LLMs now. It can query your text file, categorize, etc.

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

#518

Post by don_neufeld »

anzumitsu wrote: post #465
don_neufeld wrote: post #398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's definitely detailed. Here are a few from today: Call PG&E about medical baseline allowance Check SM Court website re: Conservancy ruling Expect next invoice from [redacted] Order refill of [medication] Book service for [vehicle] Various financial transfers associated with agreements. Tons of project related tasks for work I can't share etc, etc.

Sounds like you need an assistant haha. I’m glad your system is working though.

Thanks, it’s grown organically over the 10+ years I’ve used it.

I’ve also used a variety of EAs over the years, and in my experience reliability is highly variable. The great ones are amazing.

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

#519

Post by don_neufeld »

dap wrote: post #483
don_neufeld wrote: post #150

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…

Folks are criticizing this as too much or coming from too much anxiety. I might have agreed before owning a home and having kids. But I totally get it. A typical week involves dozens of random tasks like those you mentioned. Then there's the long backlog of stuff that's important but not urgent. I've used Todoist for the last few years. It's not perfect. But it's been game-changing in terms of reducing anxiety becaus…

Yuuuup.

I remember the days before I had this much complexity. Frankly, it’s forced me to get a lot better at stuff.

Back to school was a blizzard of forms, meetings, drop offs, etc. each with their own unique timelines. Sandwiched between all the rest of life.

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

#520

Post by don_neufeld »

anzumitsu wrote: post #465
don_neufeld wrote: post #398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's definitely detailed. Here are a few from today: Call PG&E about medical baseline allowance Check SM Court website re: Conservancy ruling Expect next invoice from [redacted] Order refill of [medication] Book service for [vehicle] Various financial transfers associated with agreements. Tons of project related tasks for work I can't share etc, etc.

Sounds like you need an assistant haha. I’m glad your system is working though.

Just in case it wasn’t obvious, there are a bunch of “Expect X to have happened by now” type tasks in there.

These are basically dead man’s switches to remind me to check on someone else’s progress vs a timeline - ala @patio11’s “dangerous professional”

Post reply on HN