[1] https://help.supermemo.org/wiki/Plan
+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| Mon.| Thu.| Todo|
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| Tue.| Fri.| |
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+-------------+-------------+ |
| Wen.| Sat.| |
| +-------------+ |
| | Sun.| |
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My "master" Todo list in a simple text file.
Left half of page: "work stuff." Right half of page "personal stuff." Bottom two inches of page: "long term goals for the week."
I use one sheet per week, adding bullet points to the relevant column. I created a template for printing on the office printer, then realized it was ecofriendlier to just recycle one-sided scrap paper (every office had tons of it), and draw my own lines. I use the To-Do app for tracking things from week to week, but when I put down my coffee cup and set down in front of my computer, thinking about what needs to get done, the notebook/pen combo somehow works best for me.
Edit: exchanged diagram for text since the diagram got mangled.
Specifically dotted paper is a good balance of structure and freedom.
justan A4 dot grid pad: 120 Dotted Notebook Pages (5mm dot matrix) - A4 (8.27" x 11.69") Green https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08TQ7DSLY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_gl...
I you don't have it at hand (life happens), there is this file in the wikipedia to print on demand:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Page_blanche_A5_reglure_S...
One thing led to another and I ended up scratching my own itch by creating a web app [1] which lets you edit a locally saved text file. It is a simple tool with some niceties of tabbed browsing, `#tags` and `[[backlinks]]`.
Before someone in the comment asks if I have tried xyz tool and the answer is - yes I have, but I wanted a fast web app that allows local file editing and is also fun to build as a side project.
Like others, I have single file and a section for each week containing all my tasks. Then I move the unfinished ones down to the next week at the end.
It's easy to sync those files in git of course.
Is that what you were asking for?
- Their free service is fantastic (though I've upgraded)
- My wife and I coordinate tasks easily with it
The main benefits I’ve found are that I know when my meetings are; I can visualize the time requirements of certain activities on the rest of the schedule (so it’s harder to put a hard task vaguely off until the evening, as it requires a fixed number of blocks); and I can improve motivation of doing challenging tasks (associating the mastery score with enjoyment of completing challenging tasks). The original technique is described in Burns’s book “Feeling Good,” and a summary found via Google search is here (visualization of the table is at the bottom of the article) [0].
I found OneNote better than Excel for implementing this, as the application feels easier to use for quick reference and edits (the table opens up in large font, without needing to Zoom in for Excel as not too many cells are used). I keep copies of past schedules in Excel though, in case I want to analyze it in the future. For capturing tasks, I use Things 3 for to-dos and Google Calendar for events.
I actually did try Plan in SuperMemo software, mentioned by the original post. While I liked the concept, I found it unwieldy to open and edit (as SuperMemo is primarily a flashcard, or more formally spaced repetition, app), and the program is only developed for Windows PCs (though it looks like there is some support for Linux).
[0] https://sourcesofinsight.com/how-to-use-a-daily-activity-sch...
Proprietary freemium, but I love it. It works offline, it works on linux and windows, it works on my phone...
It's basically a hierarchical set of todo trees, with a nice IU, sync, dates, hilightning, checkboxes, titles and tags. They recently added templates.
The search is excellent as it can filter by color, tag, dates... And you can favorite anything into the menu, including a search.
The keyboard shortcuts are are lacking, so I complement it with autokey.
Woah! Maybe I have to have another look. I thought they left it for Obsidian and don’t like that it’s proprietary so I switched to Athens (faster but generally fewer features), but this is a big deal.
It's a requirement for me.
I consider what I care most about and do that.
Everyone should be able to do what's most effective for them so keep using those tools if they are working well sure you. Personally, I have been frustrated by a world that forces me to accept friction and do the extra work of bookkeeping.
There’s nothing better than just a piece of paper. It’s responsive, suits every pocket, supports text, drawings, graphs and doesn’t get destroyed when it touches coffee. Also there is a psychologically effect: Turning away from the computer and checking a task using a pen gives you the feeling of having something finally completed/done.
I tried to digitalize it so often using Todoist, Wunderlist, MS Tasks, recently release MS Lists aaaand so on. But nothing really suits all the needs. And relying on many tools for task management will burn you out.
It's simple in essence but expandable as required, and a great UX (though perhaps trending a little towards busyness as it grows commercially unfortunately).
It's not a cleverly named app. I'm talking about literal breakfast. Just having a slow breakfast on the balcony gives me a bit of idle time to think about the day ahead, and it helps a lot.
I used to have a notebook. One page per day, one task per line. In the morning, I'd transfer the unfinished tasks to the next page. It would give me quick feedback on tasks that don't progress, and prevent me from overcommitting. It worked surprisingly well.
It works on paper or in digital format...I generally use markdown and a syncing service, along with fsearch and some editor tools/snippets. But sometimes it's nice to move to paper especially for the Rebasing activity, as well as the Debriefing and Anarchy modules.
https://www.friendlyskies.net/intj/the-balance-first-approac...
Good post idea op, and thanks for sharing your favorite.
Each morning I add 5 or so tasks at the top of it with some breaklines separating today's from yesterday's.
Most days I don't even reference it, but it is helpful to get focused in the AM and make sure I am intentional about my focus across the past few days.
It blends the hierarchical navigation of Workflowy (to figure out your priorities) with task management and routine building.
Throughout this process, I discovered a whole lot about ADHD. It turns out that's why I've chased this with such reckless abandon.
Between the internal pressure and balancing the side effects of medication, I burnt out. I'm _slowly_ climbing my way out of that hole.
Three days ago, I found a handful of test users by leaving a Reddit comment; I figured I could build on that by trying again here.
If you're interested to try/test the software I call 'My Second Brain' (the one that works), lemme know.
I've been nudging test users towards my Discord server for ongoing support.
Consider this an open invite to anybody (for now); I'll disable this link if/when I need to.
It's a technique for manual note-keeping that is intended to drive awareness and thought about priorities. You don't have to buy notebooks set up for the technique, all you really need is pen and paper. But stationers are standing buy with merch.
I find writing it down helps me remember the tasks or things needed, and a fountain pen is just a joy to use plus you get to take mini breaks from the digital world.
Writing with an ink the color of Crimson Glory Vine, for example, is a meditation all on its own (Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-Budo).
The vintage pens rabbit hole tends to force you toward inks that are "safe" for vintage pens (Waterman Serenity Blue, for example).
But either way, what you write with them, and what system you use is constrained only by imagination.
It was the most enjoyable daily to-do method I used, though I found it lacking in task capture for long-term tasks and scheduling (pocket notebook pages typically weren’t big enough for every hour in one column, and adding a second column felt cramped). I’ve shifted approaches from a daily to-do list to a daily hourly schedule with a table in OneNote, so I no longer handwrite a to-do list (as it’s included in the schedule). However, I still use paper sometimes for breaking big tasks into small steps, and large numbers of miscellaneous one-time tasks.
Today I use Workflowy for this system, both professional and personal. Being able to zoom into an infinitely nested list for focus and then search broadly with the hierarchy fully visible in the results makes for a very potent combination. Action planning then falls out of the system naturally without significant extra effort.
At the top level I keep major life category buckets (work, family, finances, etc) which never overlap. Within each category I make entries in a reverse chronological fashion, with explicit dates if they represent a discrete event like a meeting, or without dates if it represents ongoing work or brainstorming. At the bottom of each category is an "Archive" entry, where I will periodically sweep old items from the bottom of each category. These swept items are also maintained in reverse chronological and bucketed monthly/quarterly so the lists never get too long. Within that structure, whenever a concrete action needs to be taken I tag it #action and then cross off when it's done. My planning is now just to search for #action, and one every week or two audit the list for actions I no longer wish to complete.
The beauty of this system is it's super lightweight and flexes really well to IC, management or personal task.
I get notifications on my devices including my watch, I can manage entries via Siri when I'm driving, and it can detect appointments from my text messages and emails. I don't think I'd want to give any of that up.
(I also make intensive use of Apple Notes, which I really love.)
I also use slack reminders a lot for work primarily.
It allows me to quickly keep a GTD-ish list of stuff going on and action items needs to be taken and I can organize them as detailed as needed with labels, colors, etc. I find the simplicity/features ratio work well for me.
Getting Things Done method by David Allen
I have a recurring task to create a weekly plan on a Monday (in Notion) and then review my progress on it on Wednesday and Friday, course correcting accordingly.
I do a day plan first thing most mornings. I plan my day in hourly blocks (9am → 10am: Call X, 10am → 11am: Project A, 11am → 12pm: Project A + Laundry, etc). I populate it with items from my calendar, task list, habits list and weekly goals (outcome based or time based, such as spending 10 hours on Project B).
I create the day plan, either line by line in a notebook (1 line per hour), or in the Mac OS Stickies app, or create events in my calendar, depending on how the mood takes me, and keep it visible all day (either open on a secondary monitor or having the notebook open on my desk).
I use colored post-it notes stuck to a whiteboard. One note per task, a rough time estimate to complete it, and the color of the note denotes the urgency (e.g. red = do today). I mark it with a ! if it is overdue/festering, and a ◆ if it is a difficult task (intellectually, emotionally, energetically, or otherwise).
The whiteboard has 6 rows: health, work, life/home, finance, education, projects. As I finish tasks, I put a big checkmark on them and leave them up for a bit (as proof to myself that I did something). When enough slain tasks accumulate, I crumple them up and Kobe them into the recycling bin.
There is not much of a planning phase—it’s just a continuous process of whack-a-mole-ing my tasks and generating new ones.
Swithing between the two periodically every month. I think you just get tired of looking in many tasks in the same interface, that's when I do the switch :)
It has an Outlook integration so I can see my tasks for today in the Outlook calendar.
Runs on Windows and Linux.
I'll mark down meetings with times on one, and a todo list on another. Stuff gets crossed off as I go. Anything not done gets recopied to a new todo sticky. If I can't fit my todo list onto a single normal-sized sticky with smallish handwriting, I'm trying to do too much.
(Aside: I find writing these out by hand to be a nice break for reflection and crossing them off to be much more satisfying than clicking a checkbox or other electronic equivalents.)
It combines a todo list and calendar. Currently though I'm working on a mobile version which you can see on my Twitter: https://twitter.com/satvikpendem/status/1446697663479562242?...
I use nextcloud's lists, as it is free, it syncs across all devices and it's easy to do modifications if you want
My biggest issue with other apps is that I would create an industry of creating plans or todos. I would have massive backlogs and then never look at any of the tasks for months or even years. I spent more time planning than doing.
Using EasyLists, I create lists like 'Monday', 'Tuesday', 'Shopping tomorrow' or 'Now' and use them in a short time frame and _delete_ the list completely.. the same as I would if I was using a pen and paper.
Other points to note if anyone wants to use it:
* No signup or accounts
* It saves locally against your local storage
* It has no tracking or analytics
* It currently has one known bug that I will get around to fixing eventually - it doesn't affect functionality.
* It is _not_ mobile friendly (yet)
I can manage items in calendaring apps and in SQL editor, and visualize various diagrams.
This single daily note is a combination of Todo list, journal and collection of loose thoughts.
This works great for me since I am a heavy obsidian user anyway and use it to to organize all of my more permanent notes, so the integration with that is pretty nice.
The plain text format works a lot better for me than any other opinionated way of organizing todos in an app that I have ever tried and being able to easily reference other things I'm working on is pretty nice.
Give it a shot if you already use obsidian, otherwise there's probably better standalone tools out there.
It's one of the reasons I keep trying different solutions as well.
[1] https://needgap.com/problems/30-getting-things-done-at-indiv...
For the last couple of years, I've used free-format text in a new note in Bear app every day, an ever-evolving template (I generally copy the previous days' document, remove done items and stuff that's no longer important, and plan from there). I do something similar for weekly and quarterly plans, all free-format in my notes app of choice.
Time blocking is a game changer.
I plan each work day on index cards, one task per card. This helps me to limit work in progress so I’m not all over the place. Using index cards, it’s easy to reprioritize tasks, modify processes, and absorb emergent tasks.
https://outlook.live.com/calendar/view/board (for consumers, similar link for O365).
But I mind apps giving them access to my email box only for comfort.
Try to merge this product with tutanota (or proton) and I would pay 25 per month!
When I finish a task, I simply edit the message and put a success checkmark in front of the completed item.
The next day, I can easily see which tasks did not get completed - an important feedback loop signalling to modify workload or better scope individual tasks.
It's a well thought out application, which I really appreciate.
For longer lists and more details, I use the Things3 app on my iPhone.
Trello and Reminders for planning the work.
Total Commander has a nice feature, which is that you can assign specific icons to files of a particular extension, and then sort in (descending) order by that extension. This means that, choosing intelligent extension names allows you to sort in a way that puts vital, urgent, important, actionable items etc in a useful order, with nice icons to match (I have chosen a simple 'traffic light' icon-set of my own design).
This works great for me, and I have been using it for years. One nice thing about it is the freedom to adapt it as time goes on and my needs change.
My current structure is something like this:
01. Actionable Tasks
02. Awaited - Delegated Tasks
03. Personal standards and rituals
04. Recurring - Ongoing Tasks and general Goals.
05. Future Ideas and other misc resources.
06. Archived (years up to 2020)
07. My 'Yay me' folder. (see: https://lifehacker.com/keep-a-file-of-your-accomplishments-302754)
08. General Resources (travel checklists, previous addresses, vaccination record, password zipped bank details, etc)
01. Actionable Tasks
├── 2021-[01-09] <-- archive of the year, to keep things unclutterred (this could have gone into folder '06.' directly, but I tend to only move these there annually.
├── 2021 ### <-- current year. Everything in this folder are 'year-span' tasks.
│ ├── 2021-[01-09] <-- archive of the previous months.
│ ├── 2021-10 ### <-- current month. '###' serves as a visual 'currentness' marker
│ │ ├── A task which is both important and urgent (in the month span sense).vital
│ │ ├── A task which is urgent but not important.urgent
│ │ ├── A task which is important but not urgent.important
│ │ └── A normal task which should simply be done as soon as possible.asap
│ └── 2021-11 <-- tasks already scheduled for next month
└── A tasks whose span is 'life-span'. Rare to put tasks here, since they most typically represent 'goals' and ideas instead, which go into other folders.
Once a task is completed, I rename it and place a 'dot' in front to mark it as 'done', which also makes it a hidden file and clears it from view of current tasks (unless I click the 'show hidden files button' in Total Commander). This also helps you check when istorical tasks were completed (at the resolution in which they were created - for finer control you could modify the file's date etc).
All in all, it's a system that would work anyway, but in combination with Total Commander on my phone, it makes it very appealing to use. To me it feels almost like I have a fully customizable tasks app. (and as a bonus, total commander is simply the best android file manager I've ever used).