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Comment by rconti | Hacker News Reader

My biggest problem with planners and to-do lists is I don't consult them. I've tried evernote, I've tried google notes, I used a Palm Pilot 20 years ago. I think technology is better for me because it's always available, but simply having a todo list doesn't cause me to remember to check it. I never think "hey, I'm bored, I wonder what's on the list!"

Any advice?

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Don't wait for boredom before you check. For me, it's declaring something as priority for the day that otherwise wouldn't have made the cut at all. If I don't get to something, I put a line through it and write down what I did instead.

For this week, the list has Code Complete - Chapter 4 Brain Bugs - Chapter 2 Don't Make Me Think (reread) Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Chapter 1 + 2, Economist + Web presence (read economist, write/email/etc deliberate internet stuff)

For the most part, this stuff happens after the kiddo is in bed, but before I sit down to watch something with the Mrs, or tuck into fiction/games/etc. Everyone's schedule is different, but everyone has some time they could be spending a bit more carefully.

Meant to get to Chapter 4 of Code Complete last week, but we wound up with a kid free weekend (thanks Grandma), so I took the Mrs. to dinner instead, and we followed up with GOG (1954).

Easy to burn out quickly if you're switched on and going at it all the time. Just as easy to let all of the extras fall off the edge while you're floating through seasons of whatever HBO's current thing is. There's not a line where activities are either relaxing or productive, it's a grey area, for sure. Need to find the right balance.

Grow a habit of checking some (any) system first. BJ Fogg's Tiby Habits program is a good start. And make sure it's a tiny investment of time/energy at first so no full-blown complex planning right off the bat.

Generally reading 'Making it all work' from the GTD guy also helped with just wanting to get everything into some system; which I developed bit by bit using tiny habit changes.

By now I have an amazingly complex system involving a Google Sheet, Workflowy and Evernote that would be just about ready to be turned into a professional product... but getting there I went through dozens and dozens of little improvements of just getting everything out of my kind and into some system.

I've had the same problem you describe and think it has been partially solved since I'm using Inbox instead of the classic gmail. All Reminders are sitting between the mail I've got to do and so I'm actually forced to look at them and deal with them. Of course this only works if you don't spam your Inbox with things you need months doing or don't do at all. But the "delay" feature is great for that as well.

Same problem, I never check any notes I write on a computer or phone. A physical planner for me is the way to go, I'm not sure why I tend to check it more often but I do. I also enjoy writing in it quite a bit more, I can draw diagrams or doodle if I feel like it. I bought a notebook with a dot grid for this reason.

Same here. Digital lists are never reviewed. I carry one or two scrap envelopes in my back pocket (or a skinny notebook) at all times with a list of things to do. In the morning, when I transfer my wallet, keys, and envelopes to the pants that I'll be wearing, I check my list and see what needs doing.

I put stuff I really need to get done in an Email to myself. Then I dont mark it as "read" until its done.

I use a calendar app instead of a to-do list. I just put notes to my future self.

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