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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

#751

Post by BrtByte »

bux93 wrote: post #262

I have a very simple todo list, it's essentially the same every day! - check mail - check calendar - check jira - check azure devops board - check Microsoft Tasks - check confluence - check Teams - check home calendar - check home e-mail - check signal - check whatsapp - check client e-mail - check client jira - renew prescription for benzos

At that point the todo list isn't so much a plan for the day as it is a daily pre-flight checklist just to make sure no fires are burning in any corner of your life

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

#752

Post by Shank »

imranq wrote: post #735

People basically want a life coach, someone by their side who can tell them what the best next thing to do is at any given moment. Everything else are just approximation of that ideal. The author's .txt file works because its simplicity forces a daily ritual of self-coaching. The tool demands that the user manually review, prioritize, and decide what matters. There are no features to hide behind, only the discipline…

I was a really big fan of taskwarrior for the simple reason that it did do an approximation of telling you the best thing by calculating urgency, based on a simple weighting method where "the most urgent tasks" blocked other tasks, were due soon, had extra tags, had dependents, and were the oldest.

But I do feel very strongly that people only jump into "the great trap" because they feel that they were let down by their system, or that it didn't quite model their life accurately. A lot of todo apps are opinionated and those opinions, if incompatible with the the person using them, will lead to frustration. The quest for a more perfect life model often continues when this incompatibility is found.

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

#754

Post by conception »

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…

Note taking and task management are two things which everyone has a slightly different style and need. There is no one size fits all and in a group someone will always find some aspect lacking.

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

#755

Post by meistertigran »

I think the key point here is that you made a solution for yourself. If you would've finished the one you started, you would've known all it's features and could've customized it to your liking. Personally I just use AI to spin up a quick HTML file that solves any personal productivity needs I have.

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

#756

Post by meistertigran »

Shank wrote: post #752
imranq wrote: post #735

People basically want a life coach, someone by their side who can tell them what the best next thing to do is at any given moment. Everything else are just approximation of that ideal. The author's .txt file works because its simplicity forces a daily ritual of self-coaching. The tool demands that the user manually review, prioritize, and decide what matters. There are no features to hide behind, only the discipline…

I was a really big fan of taskwarrior for the simple reason that it did do an approximation of telling you the best thing by calculating urgency, based on a simple weighting method where "the most urgent tasks" blocked other tasks, were due soon, had extra tags, had dependents, and were the oldest. But I do feel very strongly that people only jump into "the great trap" because they feel that they were let down by the…

This is accurate. It's about having something that works with your specific personality type.

That's why I personally just give some instructions to an LLM and create a simple scrapy HTML app that does exactly what I need.

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

#757

Post by meistertigran »

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…

Org mode is nice, but ultimately you are adapting someone else's approach. The best is making your own, for which you know all features and which works exactly as you want it to work.

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

#758

Post by stevezsa8 »

kgeist wrote: post #641

I've been using simple text files too, for 7 years now. Except I create a new file for each new day, to have peace of mind (as opposed to having a million-line-long file). Instead of Ctrl+F, I use grep. The format is Markdown. My typical TODO file has 3 sections: TODO, Pending, and DONE. If something is done for the day, I move it to the DONE section. When I create a new file for a new day, I copy over everything exc…

This worked really well for me at work. A new text file for each day, so I could explain what I did/plan to do during standup.

I struggle at home though. Because there's not as much pressure to do one task until it's done... so my text file gets forgotten about. Then I start a paper list. Then I forget that... rinse and repeat.

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

#759

Post by nosianu »

egypturnash wrote: post #503
nosianu wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But if it's AR you can have a cute hamster run up to you and holding an urgent note. Or the hare from Alice in Wonderland. And it can just sit on your desk (virtually) and do cute things while you continue to finish what you were working on. Better than a boring annoying beeping alarm. We have not even started combining digital an real world, and the last few idea, e.g. from Meta, were devoid of anything useful, show…

this sounds like an apocalyptic amount of work to set up

Yes, building something new is a lot of effort. And? We have been doing it for a few thousand years, again and again and again. Cities were a lot of work. Irrigation was a lot of work. Farming was a lot of work. Castles were a lot of work. Roads. Aqueducts. International trade. And that was before the even more complex problems of modernity, after the industrial revolution. I don't understand the attitude behind such an argument. I would understand complaints if unwilling people were forced to contribute funds and/or time, but it's not like me or anyone else is forcing you to participate in this idea against your will.

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

#760

Post by swah »

titusjohnson wrote: post #41

For work I use Logseq, but I treat it like a .txt file. 90% of my use is the daily journal pages, adding NOW and LATER todos, notes, whatever. The ability to link nodes to other pages or nodes is just good enough to beat out a .txt. For my personal life I use Things 4. I bought the Mac and iOS versions. Despite the steep price for the Mac version, I think it's worth it. I appreciate how the app is organized. I like t…

You got me, I thought I had missed a Things release!
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