Here is my solution: I've resorted to sticky notes placed semi-organised on my wall next to my computer. They're roughly organised by priority, and roughly by project.
There are a few reasons why this system is awesome:
1. High priority tasks cannot be easily "shifted down" to put something else above them. This forces me to deal with oldest first.
2. The only way to make something even higher priority is to go further up the wall. There is a limit to how high I can reach, therefore I have to be REALLY sure about putting something high on the list.
3. I'm using cheap sticky notes. The glue lasts about 3 weeks before it falls off the wall. If I haven't done it in that time, it's not going to happen. It also obviously wasn't that important and deserves to be on the floor. Occasionally, I go and pick up the drop offs and double check if I really should've done anything with them.
4. It's tactile. When something is done, there is nothing more rewarding that taking down the note, screwing it up and throwing it in the bin. TAKE THAT TASK!!!
I think that I'm old school. I use things app to focus while on the go. But, i still prefer whiteboard and post-its because the feel as taost76 said is so HUGE. feeling the accomplishment is awesome.
I use post its obviously and whiteyboard.
Also, its fun shaping your post its into peoples faces you dislike and slowly dismantling it. but this may be a spiteful thing to do that's inherent to people who are petty like me lol.
My most effective and sustainable todo system has, so far, been a notebook with a new page for each day. On the evening the previous day (ideally... sometimes on the morning of the current day) I look at the previous day's tasks and copy the uncompleted ones onto a new page, then add to that page as I go along.
This forces me to review and eliminate tasks that I blatantly won't do (self-cleaning) and keeps track of other relevant tasks (no lost tasks). Works great.
When overworked, as another layer, I add a number next to the tasks, 1, 2, 3 or 4. This allows me to more easily ignore the 3's and 4's until the 1's and 2's are completed.
I was going to say the same thing. I tried org-mode (I'm a heavy Emacs user) and it didn't stick, I think the simplicity is what makes this doable. Also I have a nice history of tasks and it isn't tied to my computer or mobile device. I don't have to worry about syncing or backup or files piling up never to be read again or any of that garbage.
If you have tasks for managing your todo list on your todo list then it is too complicated.
I've tried GTD but no one tool works for me and I end up falling off of the wagon. Email is usually my downfall. I'd prefer everything on paper, whether Moleskine notebooks, index cards, or just folded printer paper. But taking an incoming email (that will take more than 2 minutes to act on) to a task on paper is usually such a heavyweight process that I never do it.
So I end up trying to manage everything in my email+tasks systems (Exchange/Outlook for work and Gmail for personal). That works somewhat well, but breaks down for a couple cases. I still prefer a paper list where I can scribble new input as well, for meetings and offline / distraction-free planning time. It's not as hard to copy from paper to email+tasks, but I never seem to get it done.
Another vote for a notepad + copying. It's the only system I've ever stuck to, and the only thing missing from it (very occasionally) is not having my list online.
I work in an environment with unstable plans (computer vision research lab), so my TODO system has become very dynamic over time. The basics:
org-mode. org-mode is a wonderful TODO extension for Emacs. I add a new file to org-mode's global TODO list every day. I tried keeping individual project files, but using tags to separate projects ended up being the least-effort system.
Break up tasks. As with code, work can be decomposed into small, orthogonal tasks. Take a small amount of time to enter a TODO item for each one. I'm only human - I'd much rather start a small task than a large one. If I discover I finished something, but there's not a corresponding TODO item, I add it and close it. Why deprive myself the satisfaction?
Lazy update. Since I have several small tasks that represent a job to be done, I only revisit my TODO list every few hours for cleanup (and to ensure I haven't forgotten anything). Touching my TODO list whenever I do something is overkill.
Loose prioritizing. I track the importance of each line-item by Low, Medium, and High priority. 80% of items are Medium priority, and most of the rest are High. These are just suggestions: for instance, I pick short Medium tasks before starting long High priority tasks.
Relentlessly prune. Plans change. Just delete irrelevant or items from your list and move on. I tracked closing information on line-items for over a year until I realized that I had never needed to go back to look at the resolution information or start/end timestamps. Over a year after I stopped, I still haven't.
Know when to let go. When something needs to be done yesterday, someone asks every 30 minutes if you are finished. You don't need other reminders. Skip the TODO list and get to work.
voting for plain text or pen and paper. What I've found most helpful is writing down 'predicted time required' next to each task. And then if you run over adding an additional prediction next to it. And if you run under writing how long it actually took. I quickly realized my poor time management was due to habitually underestimating the time certain types of tasks take me to complete.
An additional benefit is if you ever need to establish billing or sweat equity valuation, you already have a log of time put into everything.
The best compromise that I've found between plain text and a structured to-do sytem is TaskPaper. It's more or less a to-do enhanced notepad and it's the only to-do system that I've manged to stick with for more than a week. I think it's because it's so free-form that it works for me. Like a dynamic outline.
Agreed. I've tried a few systems and like this one the most.
The fact it doesn't do anything fancy is part of its appeal. The storage format is plain text so you can always view/edit it in any editor (there are plugins for vim, textmate, etc). Having it sync with an iPhone app is also very nice.
I think paper-based is the best, which I find slightly odd given my heavy reliance on technology day to day. But it just works.
I create an updated list once a week or so, then I use a highlighter to highlight my next most important tasks (2 or 3), then work through them and cross them off the list. Combined with setting my one or two most critical goals for the day, this has worked out quite well.
I think paper-based works well for many people because it is (or seems) easier than technology-based tools. Grabbing a marker and writing on the white board just naturally feels easier than opening the todo list and correctly organizing the task. A technology-based system would surpass paper-based if it can replicate that natural feeling of ease.
"I’ve talked to a lot of people who have skipped from todo system to todo system, getting an initial high of productivity and then moving on. Maybe that’s just how it has to be; perhaps our brains are wired such that we need to vary our routines and methodologies or we slack off over time."
"The Hawthorne effect is a form of reactivity whereby subjects improve or modify an aspect of their behavior being experimentally measured simply in response to the fact that they are being studied, not in response to any particular experimental manipulation."
I use Notational Velocity (http://notational.net) and a single text note within it (I get to it by typing "todo"). I have sections for "this week", "next week", "this month", "next month", and "someday".
If I weren't using NV, I'd use Notepad.exe or TextMate or TextEdit. I wouldn't use anything more complex than those.
I adjust things on my (multiple times a) weekly review. Stuff that needs to be done on a specific day goes on my calendar accordingly.
I carry around a small stack of 20 or so plain index cards for on-the-go. If I come up with an idea or a todo, I write it down on the card in biggish letters, any notes about the task or idea also go on the card. One card per idea or task.
When I'm near my inbox, I chuck the cards I wrote on in there, or I immediately file them in Notational Velocity.
I've tried and wasted money on paper day planners, Things, Omnifocus, Evernote, Google Tasks, GTD Tracks, RTM, etc. I found they were all too cumbersome and annoying to set up and maintain.
Likewise a paper list by itself was too much crossing out, moving around and erasing.
I advise people to stay away from 43Folders, Lifehacker, and the like to avoid the "GTD method of the week" distractions. Use what works and is not a pain in the ass.
I created http://untodos.com last year with similar groupings (today/soon/whenever). I used it for about a year but stopping using it because adding/removing tasks individually was too much work and I much preferred managing nested todo lists in a text-editor with code-collapse features (so I could hide entire sublists). Earlier this year I created http://bulletxt.com (text-editor like todo/outline app with collapse) and have been using it ever since. I really need to finish it up because quite a few HN people have been using it lately.
Funny you mention GTD. I'm driving across the country and earlier today started listening to the GTD audiobook. Five minutes in, I stopped it. Just not my cup of tea honestly. I listened to Feynman and Kurt V. instead.
I use a whiteboard in my room. I write down the things I have to get done over the next week or so, and erase them when I finish them. I can't forget about it, or misplace it, or forget my login since it's right in front of my bed. I don't write every little task down, but rather general things like "CS Assignment #2", "Time Card", "Call <so and so>" and due dates, if relevant.
A more extended version, if you want to take the time to do it, could include sending yourself an email at the end of the week with what you did, what you plan to do, and your problems. That way you can keep track of what you've accomplished, and your plans. It's pretty helpful if you need to go back and figure out when you did something or where your time's going.
But if you're having trouble with planners and stuff already, just try using a whiteboard.
In GTD, anything that requires more than 1 action is a project, so implementing a minor feature for a client that takes an hour might actually be a project, because it has multiple steps. When I say “high-level project”, I mean collections of GTD-projects around a related node, like building a web application for a client, or learning iOS.
This "feature" of GTD is what finally got me off of it after years as a religious OmniFocus user. It might be a fantastic system for managers, but most of my tasks require multiple, discrete actions and I don't break them down that way until I start into the task. I schedule tasks in terms of hours and afternoons, GTD seems better suited for tasks in the range of minutes.
I've had this experience as well doing research. GTD is great for doing many small tasks that are hard to remember, but I always seem to have tasks that are hard to break up. Something like "Make machine learning method X work for data Y". Sure there are lots of mechanical things like importing/exporting data that are easily tracked GTD style, but then there is the core problem, that is very difficult to break up ahead of time.
I'm in a similar boat, and I also often find that figuring out what the larger task needs to be broken up in to is part of the process. I don't know all the steps until I'm partway through the process in the first place.
This is similar to a problem I have delegating tasks. Not always, but often by the time I detail out things that need to be done, and how to do them, for someone else with less experience, I could have just done the work faster. In the short term this is incredibly frustrating, and I balance that out by telling myself that over the long haul, getting others up to my level on certain tasks will mean I don't have to do it at all. But determining when to delegate and when to do, with real world deadlines involved, is stressful.
That is very true, but I use GTD to handle all of the stuff that are not important to the big project I'm working on.
Groceries, household chores, personal finance, emails to random people, phone calls, car maitenance. Most of the things on my list I can't do right now anyway, but don't want to forget later.
The end result is that when you are working on the big project that matters, you aren't distracted by constantly thinking "oh crap, I have to remember to pickup bread tonight, and call the DMV and find out why they lost my title, and setup a dentist appointment" (all things on my todo for today), but you can sit there and focus with nothing random coming up in your head.
My issue with GTD and trying to use a todo system is there seems to be an assumption that you are able to quantify the time/effort to do each of your daily tasks.
Developing software and solving problems all day I can't often gauge by looking at a list how long different tasks are going to take or how much they'll make my head hurt.
I can do the straight forward things quickly, I try to stay on top of things I need to do but have been putting off. But I always seem to get stuck and fill up todo lists with thing's I've go no idea how to get off the lists and I don't believe it is as simple as breaking them up into actions.
I don't need a method for managing tasks, I need something to structure and support arbitrary problem solving.
Exactly, there would need to be something like GTD for problem-solving. E.g. similar to the two-minute rule, one would have something like the two hour rule: "If you can't solve the core problem in two hours, ask someone for help".
I use a hosts file of ad site domains aliased to localhost. A web server on my machine redirects the default page at localhost to my to-do list on http://rememberthemilk.com. In addition, I use OpenDNS to block distracting sites, and redirect block.opendns.com to localhost, which is then redirected to my to-do list.
Remember that add-on that replaced web ads with fine art? Makes me think that someone should make an add-on that replaces web-ads with things that you need to do in large type.
I wouldn't know how to make it, so someone's welcome to run with the idea if they think people might use it.
I had thought of doing this also, and a few people to whom I showed the system to mentioned a Firefox add-on that substitutes art for advertisements.
It bothers me that personal computers replicate the internal chatter of the mind. The web itself seems designed to prey on human weakness, to encourage wilfing through the Internet and short-term gratification, and to discourage learning and the development of self-control.
Ad blockers suppress ads, but do not provide positive reinforcement. Site blocking software systems filter unwanted content, but do not substitute desired content in its place. It's not enough to slap the user's hand.
We could ask, "why not exercise self-control?" Some say there is no such thing as will power. Some insist otherwise. We could embark on a course of meditation, and this may quiet the chatter in our own minds. But it will not address the chatter of the Internet, which replicates the internal chatter of the mind (or at least my mind). Must we assume the burden of spiritual equipoise entirely from within?
The chatter of the Internet is not only distracting for us: our machines expend energy and clock cycles to provide us with extraneous cognitive load. The low signal-to-noise ratio costs them as well.
The domain name filtering service OpenDNS displays a block page at http://block.opendns.com if a site meets the criteria for filtering. This is negative reinforcement. We might provide positive reinforcement if we were to substitute an online to-do list, such as http://rememberthemilk.com, for the block page should we lose focus--to mention a crude first step.
RescueTime looked like a great idea, but for me, it became another example of mechanized negative reinforcement. It's too easy to defeat and ignore. There should be more of a feedback loop with users to provide them with real-time positive reinforcement. It's not enough to reply that a tool is only useful in the right hands. Some attempt has to be made to understand how to develop the right habits or the hands will vote with their feet.
I know intellectually that people actually do good stuff with OmniFocus, but to me the point of keeping a to do list is to reduce friction. And OmniFocus seems about as bristly and rough a program as I've ever seen. I haven't looked at it in a while, so maybe it's gotten better, or maybe one really has to have bought into in the whole GTD mindset to grok it, but even after a week of trying to come to grips with it, I could make no headway and fled back to org-mode.
I've tried a number of methods (mostly for work-related todos) and nothing really worked perfectly. I find that I go through phases of needing a list versus doing what is on my mind. Each phase can last a week or a month.
My solution is to use a spreadsheet like Excel (or your choice of GoogleDocs, OpenOffice or other equivalent). I put a cross next to items as I complete them. When I lose interest in my list it tends to atrophy, but at least my tasks and accomplishments are still recorded.
If I come back to my spreadsheet after an extended break and it has atrophied substantially (as in I've completed many tasks without marking them off, priorities have moved away from uncompleted tasks to new unrecorded tasks etc), I simply create a new page and copy across old tasks that I still need to do.
It seems to work quite well for me; it keeps a record of what I've been up to and what I need to do (when I need it to), and works somewhat like agile development iterations without me worrying too much about whether I'm doing it 'correctly'.
My TODO system is more a motivational system than TODO list - I have a text file in which I record what I'm doing throughout the day with a resolution of ~5mins.
Things which need doing in the future go at the bottom then when I'm starting them I can just put the current time on to mark them as current.
At the end of the day I divide the time into useful and non-useful blocks and calculate a ratio: useful time / time wasted.
It has had some unexpected but good effects, for example I cook myself much better meals. I know good food makes a difference to me and I allow myself that as time well spent. Previously I'd have been too worried about not doing X important thing and so have stressed out and wasted time on facebook instead.
I'm planning on making a web-app version of this, I'll do a HN post on it if anyones interested.
I just use Google Tasks, and have done so successfully for well over a year.
The feature set is minimal, but improves occasionally.
Its very fast to navigate around with the keyboard shortcuts, and it supports multiple lists. I tend to make long and short term lists in several categories (work, personal, hobby, reading).
Most importantly, and I cannot stress this enough - it is always available to me.
It doesn't go missing. It doesn't have synch problems.
I can get to it from any computer or phone I use.
The iPhone integration is good.
And its already open in my e-mail window.
The fact that its simple, ubiquitous, and just works, outweighs the advantages of more feature rich systems, for me, in practice.
Hiveminder (http://www.hiveminder.com) is about the only thing I _can_ use anymore. It's killer feature is its nerd-friendly Braindump syntax for creating tasks — (Need to keep in contact with Paul? -> ping Paul [repeat 1 month] [hide 1 month]). Use as little or as many of the features you need — assigning tasks to people, the IM interface, command-line client, one of it's many APIs, task hiding, repeating, depedent tasks, groups, etc.
GTD is overkill. Just do a braindump with Braindump.
I've been using it consistently for 6 months now. It took a couple of hours to go through the huge list of options tweaking it to my liking, but it's worth it.
If you're on Windows (or like Wine), it's worth checking out. I've used it extensively; it hits a sweet spot of quick yet freeform enough to accommodate different recording requirements. And the developer, Dan, is a quite nice bloke.
I've tried all kinds of stuff but I keep coming back to this:
Create a file (mines called todotoday.txt)
Add the following lines:
Now
---
Waiting
-------
Done
----
On the Now area, put everything that needs to be done now. When you're in progress and stop partway through, put "- X" after the entry to signify that it's in progress. Once it's complete, remove the hyphen and move the line to 'Done'. If something stalls or is waiting on someone else, move it to 'Waiting'.
It's simple enough for me to keep track of what I'm doing, what I'm chasing and what I've done.
I think the author is right about us taking too much on. It seems in this day and age, any extra time that comes from an increase in productivity is immediately filled with another task, which brings with it an increase in stress, and the first things to suffer are your ancillary tasks...like keeping todo lists.
I think it has to do with more work being "creative", in the Richard Florida sense, of being problem-solving oriented. It is much easier to estimate the time needing to complete tasks such as "milk the cows" or "build a shed", because 1) You do them repeatedly and can learn, and 2) The bottleneck is not thinking, but the manual labor, or the time it takes to use a given machine.
I might be irrational, but I always estimate problem solving time to be much smaller than what will actually be needed. Even afterwards, I will usually consider much of the problem solving time as time wasted, because I should have been able to do the task much faster.
I've been unable to beat a plain old notebook, and not for lack of trying. I don't think technology has solved this problem yet.
In the digital age, I use a simple "stuff.txt" file in my dropbox folder, which I manipulate with droptext on my iphone when I'm on the go. It's my notebook in the cloud, and, for me, it sucks least.
What all these systems lack is an element of responsibility to another person. When a human calls me to remind me of something, I take it a lot more seriously than I do a computer or something written on a piece of paper.
What if a system combined the best elements of an automated system with some human responsibility? What if all of your reminders are text messages from human experts on the type of task you need to complete? And your replies actually go back to that person and they are notified of your failures to reply as well.
People really need help in breaking down goals in the smallest possible tasks, the approach GTD really encourages. That should be a strong element and human experts can help with this too.
And your experts can be anywhere in the world these days. Combine GTD and the Four Hour Work Week.
I have used Remember the Milk for the last three years. I find that being able to collect 100% of what I need to do is the most important thing for me. Since I can access RTM from my desktop, mobile, or even email (maybe even text msg?) I am almost always able to get the task into it from anywhere.
Once the tasks are in the system, I prefer something computer based so I can organize it quickly over paper based. I know a lot of the tasks in the system are not things I'm going to get around to soon, but I'd rather dump them onto a list and stop thinking about them than have it pop up in my head over and over.
I do my weekly reviews on friday and monday. I find it helps to do more frequent, but smaller reviews.
I don't really use any of the advanced features of RTM though (tags, smart search etc).
I know that migrating a todo system is a nightmare and technology is not the only answer but I have tried Omnifocus and found Remember The Milk (http://www.rememberthemilk.com) much better.
One of the main reasons is that you say: "I don’t use the system consistently enough to trust it". I found that with remember the milk I have it on my iPhone so it is accessible everywhere and then syncs to a web accesible site - so it doesn't matter if you are in front of a MAC with the software installed or not. For me at least this significantly increased my use of it, and also because I have my phone in meetings I can add actions directly in, saving the time transposing from notpad to system.
While not strictly (and not just) a to-do system, I am quite satisfied -so far- with the Pomodoro Technique. It enhanced my productivity considerably, and it is also an apparently sustainable todo system.
I second that. Pomodoro Technique is dead simple and yet effective! No more procrastination while doing boring or where-to-start-with-that things. It really helped me a lot.
I've been finding ActiveInbox (http://www.activeinboxhq.com/) pretty useful as a way of keeping things organized within gmail. It also is agnostic to google tasks, although I hope they add some more integration there soon. I think the free version is definitely worth it, and I just upgraded to see if the scheduling component is worthwhile.
I've also tried many different things. I also went the digital route by creating Zen To Done App (http://zentodoneapp.com - also on github). But even with designing and developing my own app, I prefer the pen and pencil method. It's just so much more tactile and responsive. I use a blank moleskine with a #2 pencil or pen; that's always with me.
Currently going through another effort to fully adopt Scrum at work, I wonder if there isn't a workable way to apply that to personal productivity. GTD "projects" are really "product backlog" items that need regular review and reprioritization. Maybe you could shorten your sprint timeboxes depending on how busy you are. Do a more-or-less daily Scrum meeting with yourself. And so on.
Seconding that. If you're an emacs user, the way org-mode (http://orgmode.org/) makes it easy to capture and file information is invaluable, and it allows you to knit together outlines, files, URLs, etc. into tasks in a very transparent way. The manual is thorough and detailed and the community is engaged. After two months using it more and more I feel confident that everything I need is in there, and the agenda view is fantastic. Plus it's basically one big UTF-8 file. I still procrastinate, but I definitely know a lot more about the tasks I'm avoiding. Which is major progress for me.
I love org-mode too but it doesn't work for the mobile world. My use of org-mode has dropped dramatically since I started using a Nexus One. I desperately need a todo manager like org-mode but optimized for touch interfaces and w/ cloud-based sync so I can manage my todos between the many different devices I use.
I love org-mode too. It's the only task and project management system I've ever managed to stick to. I think it is because it grows naturally with however much you want to do with it. And also the MobileOrg app.
For the past year, Things for iPhone has completely run my life. I think the key is being able to add todos anytime, anywhere. It has essentially become my external brain, and one that I am almost never without.
In the end I wrote my own todo webapp (toodat.com), that fitted in with the way I think. All the others just seemed to have too much friction. This is one area where too many features causes real problems.
I've been using Gmail Tasks for about a year now. Its advantages?
* I'll always have it open
* I can't help but see it many times per day
* It syncs automatically
I'd say that the very name of the GTD system, Getting Things Done gives a big hint as to what's the "right" system. It's whatever system lets you Get Things Done. It doesn't have to be some fancy complicated system. It doesn't have to require any software or notes. Whatever works for you. Try several things, see what sticks and is effective for you.
Personally I've discovered that a combination of project TODO files, and general TODO files, plus iCal events, plus my brain, is an effective combo for me.
Here is my solution: I've resorted to sticky notes placed semi-organised on my wall next to my computer. They're roughly organised by priority, and roughly by project.
There are a few reasons why this system is awesome:
1. High priority tasks cannot be easily "shifted down" to put something else above them. This forces me to deal with oldest first.
2. The only way to make something even higher priority is to go further up the wall. There is a limit to how high I can reach, therefore I have to be REALLY sure about putting something high on the list.
3. I'm using cheap sticky notes. The glue lasts about 3 weeks before it falls off the wall. If I haven't done it in that time, it's not going to happen. It also obviously wasn't that important and deserves to be on the floor. Occasionally, I go and pick up the drop offs and double check if I really should've done anything with them.
4. It's tactile. When something is done, there is nothing more rewarding that taking down the note, screwing it up and throwing it in the bin. TAKE THAT TASK!!!