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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

#791

Post by gsinclair »

phil21 wrote: post #276

Try as I might, the best to-do/task list I can come up with is a legal pad. Mixed with notes of the day for meetings or ad-hoc remembering-of-things. Closest to that is a .txt file in my specific format, but even that is not quite as good. The days/weeks I can maintain discipline with a legal pad are much more productive. It works well if you work out of an office or a single location, but breaks down quickly if you…

I use a notebook with ideas borrowed from bullet journaling, like an index at the start. That solves the “figure out where that one note is” problem. Each page is numbered (by me) so it’s easy to refer to other places in the notebook.

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

#792

Post by slightwinder »

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.

Simple can be boring. Sometimes we seek better solution, so we can procrastinate more. It's really more about how you are wired.

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

#793

Post by v3ss0n »

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…

- Not everyone like EMacs , i am not going to open up another editor just to use orgmode .. it needs a lot of preparations.

- Orgmode format itself is a mess , it only good because Emacs's orgmode extension is very good working with Orgmode.

What would be really good is a Markdown-Compatible Todo System , with notes linking and tagging , and status/progress integration.

There was Dandrite, it was quite close to what needed but that project was abandoned.

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

#794

Post by v3ss0n »

eadmund wrote: post #541
jorvi wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Obviously one needs to be an Emacs user first This makes it so infuriating that the top comment on Todo systems is almost invariably "just org-mode lol". Same as remote editing "just TRAMP lol". I am not going to completely change my editor and rebuild two decades of optimization just to use two Emacs tools. On-topic: TickTick or Todoist with a slimmed-down "Getting Things Done" system works really well. Almost no…

> I am not going to completely change my editor and rebuild two decades of optimization just to use two Emacs tools. Change your editor and rebuild two decades of optimisation in order to use Emacs, two Emacs tools, and also every other Emacs tool out there. Org Mode, TRAMP, Magit, gptel, eglot, flycheck, elfeed, ERC, Emms, EWW … there are a ton of reasons to use Emacs. Or you can keep using less-capable systems and…

You are just living in your own world and forcing others to move there. Thats not how it works.

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

#795

Post by slightwinder »

Aurornis wrote: post #253
pancakemouse wrote: post #198

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 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…

> 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…

> The most productive people I ever worked with all had really minimal productivity software.

What about quality? Often, people are very productive, because they sacrifice quality for speed, especially the "annoying" longterm-values of products/decisions.

> They seemingly spent as much time doing productivity rituals and rearranging their productivity software stack as they did doing actual work

It's a different kind of productivity. Just not as valuable for the company.

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

#796

Post by Cebul1234 »

v3ss0n wrote: post #793
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…

- Not everyone like EMacs , i am not going to open up another editor just to use orgmode .. it needs a lot of preparations. - Orgmode format itself is a mess , it only good because Emacs's orgmode extension is very good working with Orgmode. What would be really good is a Markdown-Compatible Todo System , with notes linking and tagging , and status/progress integration. There was Dandrite, it was quite close to what…

Check Obsidian: https://obsidian.md

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

#798

Post by Feuilles_Mortes »

for doing laboratory work in my PhD, I've found no better app than OmniFocus. It's particularly valuable in its ability to create tasks via a templating system. This is crucial, for example, for managing 10+ genetic crosses at a time. Each cross takes weeks to move to the next step, but when that next step occurs, I need to be on top of the cross 2x / day. Juggling different crosses at different stages would be impossible for my brain without a system I can rely on. Other lab work follows similar workflows.

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

#799

Post by r14c »

slightwinder wrote: post #792
r14c wrote: post #458

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Simple can be boring. Sometimes we seek better solution, so we can procrastinate more. It's really more about how you are wired.

Totally agree, but I have learned that exciting isn't necessarily better. I just got busy enough that I had to accept the boring option to stay afloat. Which was a certain kind of excitement in itself.

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

#800

Post by eadmund »

v3ss0n wrote: post #794
eadmund wrote: post #541

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am not going to completely change my editor and rebuild two decades of optimization just to use two Emacs tools. Change your editor and rebuild two decades of optimisation in order to use Emacs, two Emacs tools, and also every other Emacs tool out there. Org Mode, TRAMP, Magit, gptel, eglot, flycheck, elfeed, ERC, Emms, EWW … there are a ton of reasons to use Emacs. Or you can keep using less-capable systems and…

You are just living in your own world and forcing others to move there. Thats not how it works.

Who’s forcing? I’m recommending.
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