I feel like I've used it all - apps, plaintext, files+dirs, taskwarrior, ad hoc paper, bullet journal, org mode. I've used org mode many times over several years, but it only clicked for me as a system when I recently started using its capture templates and agenda views. If org-mode could be described as a system built on Emacs, it feels to me like task management with custom capture templates and custom agenda views is sort of a system built on org-mode. That probably makes it sound unnecessarily complicated, but it's actually extremely simple, fast, and reliable. I'm still using Apple's Reminders to remind me at 0900, 1245, and 1600 to actually check in with my system, but the system itself is working beautifully.
How Writing To-Do Lists Helps Your Brain
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Re: How Writing To-Do Lists Helps Your Brain
#62Interesting thread. Wondering if anyone here has tried using shorthand, a.k.a. stenography, for to-do lists? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shorthand I remember people using it much earlier, and it was offered in a neighborhood typing class I took as a kid. Plus, had seen books about it then.
You may be interested in Quikscript, a writing system inspired by shorthand and intended to replace the messy English writing system.
Cool! Will check it out, thanks.
Re: How Writing To-Do Lists Helps Your Brain
#63And you should purge it occasionally. With Trello, I use the "card aging" feature to see which things haven't been updated or moved recently. Each week, I spend five minutes skimming through the cards, making sure there are due dates if applicable. At the end of each month, I spend closer to 20 minutes and look at each card and ask "is this still relevant?" and give it a simple yes/no. If it's "no" I delete it immedi…
I wonder if some manual bookkeeping is necessary to develop a habit and give room for introspection/reflection?
Currently, I use Wunderlist and I have weekly lists. At the end of the week there is the manual process: create list for the next week and move everything left from this week over. Then I quickly look through the done items of the week.
I also have lists for long term and recurring items, but the process does not really work well. I forget them, they get outdated, etc.
Re: How Writing To-Do Lists Helps Your Brain
#64This first few sentences of this article describe almost exactly how I've been feeling lately: For a long time, I resisted to-do lists. I wanted the flexibility. I felt that if I kept a list, it would tie me down to a particular set of tasks. Gradually, though, I came around. The busier my work life became, the more crucial it was to have some sort of running agenda on hand. It was embarrassing after a few times when…
When I last used Wunderlist, I really disliked how inflexible it was, and how bad it was at handling recurring tasks. I discovered Todoist shortly after, and stuck with it. I think for me, personally, to get anything even more productive, I'd have to write it myself.
Hm, I use Wunderlist and I am frustrated with recurring tasks. Will try Todoist.
Re: How Writing To-Do Lists Helps Your Brain
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
When I last used Wunderlist, I really disliked how inflexible it was, and how bad it was at handling recurring tasks. I discovered Todoist shortly after, and stuck with it. I think for me, personally, to get anything even more productive, I'd have to write it myself.
Writing something myself is an idea I have brewing in the back of my mind. But it's not something I have any clear ideas about. I have no idea how it should work, only a vague idea that it should be as seamless to my daily routine as TaskWarrior is right now. But I'm trying to collect notes on how I use Wunderlist and TaskWarrior. Maybe in a few months I'll have a better idea of my usage patterns and then I can come…
You might want to try Taskpaper. It's a just a text file so you can edit it however you like. There's an OS X app that's excellent, but the iOS app has been removed. However, a number of the better text editors on iOS support it.