Ask HN: How do you do your To-Do list?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6970934

by aadilrazvi • 13 years ago

30 53 13 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

What method of organization works for you? Do you use Evernote or pen and paper? Do you have multiple lists for different things? Do you review your notes? What works for you?

js7• 13 years ago

I have tried a few things. I used Evernote for a few months and while it is more work than a notepad+paper, it is great for when I need to look back on something. Better for structuring and searching.

Can't beat notepad+paper for simplicity though.

hccampos• 13 years ago

I don't. I usually keep everything in my head quite easily. If things start getting out of hand, there's trello to help out.

gexla• 13 years ago

I use Org-mode in Emacs.

http://doc.norang.ca/org-mode.html

That doc explains a good work flow.

thenerdfiles• 13 years ago

I use http://todotxt.com/ because I very much dislike having to leave commandline. It's a bad code-switch to leave commandline for a TODO list.

    $ t ls/p # list or list by priority sort
    $ t add 'Something to do +Project @Tag' # add a new item with +Project or @Context categorization
    $ t [Num] p B # give priority 'B' to the TODO listing
    $ t rm [Num] # remove some item in the list

I use @Tag to track usernames of contributors of the project.

wikwocket• 13 years ago

I use Trello. It works best for me because:

- It's easy to view the list at a glance

- It's easy to add items, move them around, mark them as done

- It is always with me, thanks to a smartphone app

- It gets unwieldy if there are too many items - this is not a bug but a feature which reminds me to keep lists manageable!

MediaSquirrel• 13 years ago

Wunderlist. And it rocks.

We actually use it now inside my company to assign tasks to people and manage projects. Totally awesome.

mike_mg2• 13 years ago

Trello is just great for doing this. I was also considering writing my own Trello clone with better integration of calendar and plan to do so if I have some spare time this month.

nicolethenerd2• 13 years ago

Have you seen the Trello Calendar power-up? http://blog.trello.com/introducing-power-ups-calendar-card-a... I like it a lot. What would you do to make it better?

mike_mg2• 13 years ago

Wow, that's just great! Thanks for recommendation! I guess iOS integration for this power-up wouldn't hurt. I use my iPad a lot while processing my to-dos

jaxn• 13 years ago

I use OmniFocus. Every once in a while I look for something "better" but decide that I just need to be better at using OmniFocus. That is probably true for any of the todo list apps.

mdavidn• 13 years ago

I've also been sticking with OmniFocus. It syncs to each of my Macs and iOS devices, yet it still accepts changes when offline. It offers a quick-entry "inbox" but also two higher dimensions of organization, project and context, when my inbox inevitably grows unwieldy. It supports recurring tasks and due dates for important reminders like credit payments.

donutdan4114• 13 years ago

My daily todo list is http://1-3-5.com (set as homepage) The night before I like to prioritize items and think about what major, medium, and smalls tasks there are going to be.

For larger projects, I prefer Trello (https://trello.com). It's so good on so many levels.

For personal random things that need to get done, the whiteboard on my fridge is unbeatable.

eps• 13 years ago

Trello.

First it was scraps of paper with multi-item lists of various nature - from things fixed in the next release, to known issues, to feature requests, to random stuff with nothing in common. Then I moved to using Inkscape and it worked well, but moving items between the lists and archiving them was a hassle. There were also no search and generally it's just a vector editor, so it was a stop-gap measure. Then I thought of writing my own system, even drafted the spec only to realize that I was looking at replicating Trello. So Trello it was. It's not perfect, I would change few things about the UI and certainly re-style it, but it is surprisingly good as is.

That said I still use scraps of paper as it's the fastest option of them all.

superfx• 13 years ago

I find Workflowy to be excellent.

pldrnt2• 13 years ago

I have up to four lists per task (tasks themselves form a hierarchy):

- todos: for the immediate future

- goals: for longer term objectives

- ideas: for spontaneous 'eureka' moments

- gotos: related bookmarks and local folders

Whenever I'm done with an item, it goes from the list into the task timeline where I journal all other progress.

I manage them all with a tool I wrote myself, called tau (shameless plug, http://signup.tau.la)

nicolethenerd2• 13 years ago

I use different tools for different purposes. I have Trello always open as a Fluid app (http://fluidapp.com/) for work projects, but I use Workflowy for personal ToDos, as well as long-term goals, project ideas, and everything else (I keep the day-to-day to do list at the top, and then underneath it is all sorts of misc topics - gift ideas, fonts I like, etc - pretty much anything I want to keep a running list of, I keep on workflowy)

parley• 13 years ago

I must second WorkFlowy. I've tried lots of different managers, but WF is the only one that worked for me. It's flexible enough to support the simple, no-frills to-do list as well as the larger projects. I like information hierarchies and WFs free-form style and zoom levels are perfect for me. Not being happy with any of the other tools I tried used to make it a pain for me to keep things organized, but WF changed all that. Try it!

vojant• 13 years ago

Pen and paper. I have few lists, e.g. life goals, everyday stuff (like groceries) and work/programming. I have tried multiple on-line tools but only paper and pen works for me (or white board if avaible).

hrabago• 13 years ago

At the root directory of every project I have, I have a notes.txt. It contains my To Dos for that project, as well as other misc information. I just mark them [DONE] when they're accomplished. I never have to leave my IDE, get online, deal with custom formats, etc. It's also nice seeing the previous [DONE] items from past releases.

I also make heavy use of the built in notes app on my phone (500+ entries) and they serve as idea buffer when I'm away from my computer.

gmays2• 13 years ago

Email.

I have Gmail labels for different categories and different priorities/complexities. My goal is inbox zero, so when I finish my list I pull from the labels based on the priority, complexity, and what area I'm working in (i.e. marketing, dev, content, etc.).

If I'm busy or something comes up I'll just push the items back into the folders to clear my mind and pull them out again later. If items are quick (i.e. I can do them in under a minute) I'll usually knock them out all at one time.

I'm sure there are other great solutions out there, but I don't need yet another app/account and the pain isn't great enough to switch or even try anything else. When it comes to apps (and most things), I'm a minimalist.

If Google incorporated (or someone built) a better to-do list (i.e. more robust than tasks) that worked well with Gmail they'd have massive adoption. I saw the Todoist Gmail plugin, but it's not what I'm looking for. I'd like to set some labels as to do lists. For example, if I move some emails to a label/folder I'd be able to set a priority for them and optionally a due date. I'd also be able to set a default reminder schedule for each one.

Something that isn't too complicated and uses a lot of what already exists. The key is using the workflows, processes, and tools that people already use and just making it better.

ZanderEarth322• 13 years ago

I like this idea, but would it work if I'm using the mail app on OS Mavericks? Would the labels import?

Might be time to switch away from the mail app anyways, seems to really bog down my system.

gmays2• 13 years ago

Not sure. I tried the mail app, but it was too cumbersome. I just use Gmail in Safari on OS Mavericks and the Gmail app on the iPhone. On OS Mavericks it works well enough with desktop notifications.

jmduke2• 13 years ago

After trying various methods (Wunderlist, journaling, Trello, Evernote, the list goes on and on), I finally settled on a slight variation on "bullet journaling": bulletjournal.com

Basically, writing daily notes/to-do-lists with a focus on organization and brevity.

pavs2• 13 years ago

I love the idea of Bullet Journaling. I used to do something similar couple of years ago. Now I use Wunderlist mostly because its OS/Device agnostic and reasonable looking.

The reason Bullet written journaling didn't work for me because carrying a notebook is annoying, since I don't keep a bag with me all the time, it means I have to keep one in my pocket all the time. Also Notebooks gets damaged.

The positive was that it "feels" more personal when writing down your todo list and there is definitely a "cool" factor to it. But probably not for everyone.

jmduke2• 13 years ago

I still use Wunderlist every few days for when I have something to record but I don't have my notebook handy. I think it's the best possible implementation of itself, if that makes sense.

Understandable re: carrying a notebook -- that was my main apprehension when starting out. Luckily, I'm at a point in my life where I'm pretty much productive only in one of three places (home, office, coffeeshop), and since I bring my laptop bag to all three anyway it's not too much trouble to throw the notebook in as well.

EDIT: Just saw www.manvsgoals.com. I think that, too, is a noteworthy approach to keeping track of 'grander' goals and tasks.

techiebubble• 13 years ago

do they have a Linux client?

mbrownnyc• 13 years ago

I do a similar thing with post-its on my desk. I thoroughly enjoy the physical action of removing a post-it, smashing it up and tossing it into a garbage can. For things I do not complete within the day, I simply use Outlook's calendar, then rinse, repeat.

I spend maybe 10-15 minutes at the beginning and end of every day perform the organization, and "toss" tasks as I finish them throughout the day.

All the meta-analysis and catchy software, and I find that using post-its and a calendar is the most effective way for me to keep track of tasks.

hna0002• 13 years ago

Same here, I have tried various approaches, but couldn't settle on any. I loved the idea of bullet journaling. I am doing something similar, glad to put name to its face :)

jetblackio• 13 years ago

Pen and paper, using Bullet Journal conventions (http://www.bulletjournal.com/).

Ultimately the problem I have with digital todo lists is todo-creep. Lists become large and unwieldy. Old todos are not automatically deleted. Pen and paper allows you to make a fresh start each day. If there is an important task you didn't finish the day before, you'll remember it and add it to the new day.

Bullet Journal allows you to organize the todo in a way that I find very useful. I've been using it for about six months now and don't think I'll ever switch.

joshrotenberg• 13 years ago

This looks good. I like to keep all of my stuff in one place if possible (notes, todos and calendar) so I might give this a shot.

danmaz74• 13 years ago

I'm using it less lately, but https://workflowy.com/ is a really good solution to the to-do list problem.

madisonmay• 13 years ago

I'd highly recommend giving Fetchnotes (http://www.fetchnotes.com) a go. It's dead simple to use and looks incredible on iOS 7.

mindcrime• 13 years ago

I just use a wiki page. We run a private Mediawiki instance for ourselves to share and store all sorts of information & knowledge, and I have a Phil_TODO page on there. I just plug stuff in at the top as it arises, then put <strike></strike> tags around stuff that's done and move those to the bottom. Periodically I come in and re-shuffle the ones near the top to reflect relative priority.

It's not perfect, but it works reasonably well for me.

pinoyyid• 13 years ago

Most of my todo items come to me as emails, so I wanted something that lives within my Gmail. I managed this in three steps... 1/ I created a label called "todo" 2/ I made this a section in my Gmail priority Inbox so it's always displayed 3/ I created a filter to fire on emails sent to myname+todo@gmail.com, and label them as todo.

So I can just label an email as todo, or send myself an email to myname+todo@gmail.com

nhebb• 13 years ago

Two ways:

1. Pen and paper for daily tasks.

2. A desktop app I wrote for personal use that helps me track intermittent tasks / projects. It's more geared toward tracking train of thought than tasks, though.

troebr• 13 years ago

I made a little trello clone as a weekend side project, http://lipstr.com , I've stopped working on it, I don't use it all that often since I like using a paper to keep track of my tasks now. My girlfriend is probably the only daily user.

korg250• 13 years ago

OneNote.

Sincs nicely with my Windows Phone.

andyl• 13 years ago

Vim, Text Files, Dropbox.

__--__• 13 years ago

I've managed to almost completely replace evernote with Vim, Markdown text files and Bittorrent Sync. The only downside is adding images isn't as wysiwyg and "clipping" text from the browser can really suck.

jirinovotny• 13 years ago

My own method is a bit unusual - it's a hybrid method.

As a Windows user, I use our own software, Swift To-Do List, that we've been developing for over 9 years - http://www.dextronet.com/swift-to-do-list-software

First of all, I use it as a task and notes database, where I store all my tasks and ideas.

Second, every evening, I print a fresh to-do list with tasks for the next day. I just pick the tasks I want to do today, right-click them and print them.

This combination of software and paper gives me the best of the both worlds - the paper on my desk helps me stay focused, and I can scribble on it, etc.

This feels very empowering, because every day, my to-do list is short, up-to-date and I can actually finish it. If you work from your "task database" with all your tasks, it can be a bit depressing to see all the unfinished stuff on a daily basis, and the progress you make doesn't seem that significant.

If you've never tried software as a task database + fresh daily to-do list printed from it, give it a go! It's awesome.

pldrnt2• 13 years ago

Whoa the price is... interesting, may I ask what has been your experience with pricing over 9 years and how you decided to set it at $45?

ZanderEarth322• 13 years ago

I've gone through them all. For the past few weeks I've been using Silo because of the ability to share lists with my GF. I've got 5 Lists (or Silos I guess) at the moment, 3 of which are shared.

I like it because it has the simple input features of Clear, but with the ability to share lists, and receive notifications when a list is updated.

At work I use Trello, which is great, just too much for my personal project needs. Trello's iPad app is fantastic btw. Really intuitive and smooth.

When I'm feeling completely overwhelmed, I usually find writing out tasks on paper with a pen is the best. Sometimes it's just nice to get away from a screen and write something down.

tagawa• 13 years ago

A week-per-two-pages diary, with my todo items written in each day's column. I got inspiration from Erica Douglass [1] and this has proven to work best for me.

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-yer_cy3-Q

EDIT: I also love Trello for personal project-based items.

goldhand• 13 years ago

Note cards, hand written at the end of each day. 5 things I want to accomplish the next day.

druska• 13 years ago

I use text files and Dropbox. If I'm on an iPhone I send new tasks to Dropbox using Drafts.

rickyc091• 13 years ago

Evernote - Weekly To Dos.

Command, Shift, T - Creates a checkbox and then I write the task.

At the end of the week, I copy over the list and remove everything I've done and keep the ones I still plan on doing, but I've procrastinated on.

skram• 13 years ago

I use Things.app (Mac, iPhone, iPad) for personal and general to-dos and Pivotal Tracker for work tasks

liw• 13 years ago

I use a variant of David Allen's "Getting Things Done" (GTD) system. I wrote a little booklet about my implementation of it, to have a convenient place to point people at when they're curious.

http://gtdfh.branchable.com/

morisy• 13 years ago

I've become a surprised addict of HabitRPG, a "gamified" To-Do system that does a great job handling one off tasks, daily/weekly things, habits you want to nudge yourself to do more regularly, and everything else I needed from a solid GTD app but couldn't find.

It also has a great API, free mobile apps, is open source, easy to export data via CSV or JSON, and has an amazing community behind it. The only thing it really lacks for me, right now, is a way to track larger projects, but I've started keeping those together in a weekly review doc that is separate. Highly recommended.

http://www.habitrpg.com

wting• 13 years ago

Google Keep. I've tried Trello, Any.Do, Evernote, Asana, Hashnote, Wunderlist, RememberTheMilk, etc.

I need something that syncs effortlessly, works on Android / Linux / Mac, and is fast. I used Trello and Any.Do for a couple months each, but eventually got fed up with Trello slow performance on mobile and Any.Do's Chrome extension bugs.

mark_l_watson• 13 years ago

I have written two different web apps (Clojure+Clojurescript: http://my-foc.us/ and using Meteor: http://our-foc.us/) that I have used.

I am also experimenting with the Deft package for Emacs that is pretty good.

jkiviluoto• 13 years ago

http://getontracks.org/ has worked well enough to use it daily for two years.

Ask HN: How do you do your To-Do list?

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