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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

#561

Post by cwnyth »

pancakemouse wrote: post #198
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…

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 reading docs, understanding a new system which someone else has designed, and fitting one's brain into _their_ organisational structure is the hard part. Harder than designing one's own system. It's the reason many don't stick with an off-the-shelf…

I think in part because larger systems aren't typically custom made to the user's exact workflow (especially because users don't typically have one single workflow anyway!). So not only do I have to get into someone else's mind, but it feels ill-fitted to my own mind. Thus, it's also more inefficient.

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

#564

Post by coolThingsFirst »

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…

All of this is BS and not important. No one goes through 20 high priority meetings or tasks a day. It's one and maximum 3.

If you need an ALERT for something important, it likely isn't important in the first place.

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

#565

Post by hyrumjb3 »

Love this idea! Everyone else seems to be comparing the end functionality, but from a purely neuropsychological perspective, this is powerful because it takes out all alternative sources of dopamine. It focuses the brain's dopamine pathways on the task that needs to be done

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

#566

Post by itsboring »

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.

You’re not alone. Like many in this thread, I have kids and a house, etc. etc. Never needed anything like this. Maybe jotting down a note with pen and paper now and then, or at most, e-mail myself a reminder of something.

I have to wonder if some people use these systems to make themselves feel more important than they actually are.

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

#568

Post by dngray »

r14c wrote: post #458
kilroy123 wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I spent several years trying to make a custom todo system and ended up back where I started using CalDAV and a basic todo app and calendar. Turns out I was always procrastinating because I didn't want to force myself to adapt to something simple.

I used to use caldav but then stopped because there was once a bug on the server side where I couldn't delete events. The main thing I also don't like is there's no encryption or privacy really from the provider unless you go with a more a less proprietary solution like from an encrypted email provider. The closest I saw was EteSync but it requires special apps, and can include special bugs :)

I also don't need my immediate todo list on a calendar. I organize my to-do list simply as "Immediate", "Future", "Distant future", and then put things under heading. Sometimes I add a due date if there is one.

I just had a few markdown documents in a "todo" folder, eg .md .md etc. Recently I changed it to org-mode because that's a syntax designed for the purpose. https://nvim-orgmode.github.io/ works excellently.

Never been an emacs user in my life. I spent about 5 minutes perusing https://orgmode.org/org.html and was able to do the same.

I use syncthing to sync it between my devices. https://www.orgzlyrevived.com/ works great on android.

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

#569

Post by dngray »

reddit_clone wrote: post #397
miroljub wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The whole point of org-mode is that it's so malleable, that you can extend it to be whatever you want it to be, much easier than writing your own, ad-hoc, bug-ridden reimplementation of org-mode.

Org-mode is the most appropriate answer. It is as simple or as sophisticated as we want it to be. Obviously one needs to be an Emacs user first

> Obviously one needs to be an Emacs user first

Not true I use the Neovim plugin https://nvim-orgmode.github.io/. It supports everything I tried from the official org manual. https://orgmode.org/org.html

I use syncthing to sync it between my devices. https://www.orgzlyrevived.com/ works great on android.

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

#570

Post by conductr »

At work, I use my calendar. At home, I have a wife.

It's a joke but there's a lot of truth to it. She maintains our social calendar (which is mostly our kids social calendar and we tag along tbh) and I just ask what's happening tomorrow each night. For anything she's not telling me where to be, I have a Post It or just remember it. If there's something I want to do, I make sure she pencils it in well in advance or I look for gaps in the day plan she's built.

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