Ask HN: What's your GTD-like productivity system?

I use an analog system that requires nothing but half-sized white index cards, laid out in a grid on a table. No lists, no piles!

Every task has a separate card, described simply in a short actionable phrase, written in pen, in the center of the card. The corners have optional notation:

- top left: a location or '*' if the task must be done in a certain place (eg, grocery shopping) - top right: the date/day/time the task needs to be performed - bottom right: short text describing some dependency or other note, or an arrow indicating that I've written long context (eg, a shopping list) on the back of the card - bottom left: contextual area (project name, 'home', etc.)

Often I shuffle the cards around as an organizational method. Sometimes I gather them and then put them out again, especially if they've sat for too long. Or I'll walk around the house (or a project) with a handful of blank cards and do a 'brain dump,' writing down all the things I've been thinking about.

When the task is done, I rip a card in half (and recycle it) — it's a wonderful psychological release!

I've used this system since I read Allen's original book 20 years ago, and it continues to work very well for me.

I don't have anything that I'd call a system. I use a text file for the tasks that I need to do during the week, broken down by day. If I can't finish a task that day, I move it to the next day's set of tasks with a note about where I left off.

Doing that is simple, easy to maintain, and it works for me.

Omnifocus