Ask HN: How do you prioritise your daily tasks and to-dos?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9954271

by mahringer_a • 11 years ago

8 19 11 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Any models, routines or hacks that you use and can highly recommend?

sdrothrock• 11 years ago

I practice Inbox Zero. Every e-mail I get is a task and once I finish it, I archive it. Things that I need to prioritize get a star or a label.

The nice thing about this is that I can add to the task list easily by e-mailing myself and check on past things by just looking through things I've sent to myself. :)

devarist2• 11 years ago

I also practise Inbox Zero. The other thing I do is make a daily list of things I MUST do that day in Devarist (www.devarist.com), everything else is in long term storage, jira, email etc. If I find my mind wandering I review the list and get back on point.

Disclaimer: I built Devarist.

cableshaft• 11 years ago

Devarist looks pretty cool. I signed up for the free account and if it works well I'll probably upgrade. I've been keeping track of this stuff on a paper notebook but I think this will be more useful.

I'm a little worried that there seems to be a lack of searching through notes. I understand that might just be a feature that's not enabled for the free version, but personally I'd like to see how every feature of the site would work, if possible, before upgrading (even if the search is only for the limit of the past 10 notes).

devarist2• 11 years ago

Thanks @cableshaft, glad you like it!

Search is near the top of my Trello board, it's coming soon.

zhte415• 11 years ago

I, simply, remember them.

Inbox Zero seriously depreciates my effectiveness. Not every email is a task, some are echos of tasks and some are simply OK to let sit.

By becoming task-based, a lot of the people-based stuff can be left behind. And making people-stuff tasks, well, the people part that has just become a task, and is not a check-off and not a meaningful interaction.

I recommend taking a look at the relationships and tasks you with to garner/complete and go from there. Managing yourself is not managing day-to-day tasks, but is.

tosh2• 11 years ago

Spot on. Tools like RelateIQ that put a releationship layer on top of email communication can help here.

You don't want to miss an email from your team or from your investors but at the same time it is perfectly fine to not chase inbox zero, that's a very menial and time-consuming effort if not busy-work.

mahringer_a2• 11 years ago

Anyone got experience w. the Eisenhower Box?

http://jamesclear.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/eisenhower-...

spike0212• 11 years ago

I've been trying to get into using Trello more often. Usually I'll set up checklists for subsets of tasks and cards for larger projects or meetings (so I can add separate notes, files, etc.). It works pretty well. Just drag 'finished' cards into a 'Completed' pile or similar, check off items on a list, etc. Also easy to add people in to a board as collaborators, for instance if you need a manager overlooking your progress or teammates to vote on X task (maybe prioritize bug-fix, etc.).

mahringer_a2• 11 years ago

Have you tried blossom.io? I find it so much cleaner and usable compared to trello, helped boost our productivity big time!

spike0212• 11 years ago

Nope, haven't heard of it before. I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the tip!

_lbaq• 11 years ago

Emacs org-mode, look no further

http://orgmode.org/

eecks2• 11 years ago

I've tried countless todo apps for Android, Windows and in browsers. I've stopped using them all. I just keep everything in my mind now.

dotnick• 11 years ago

As the developer of a mobile todo app, I would love to know why. Was there something missing?

eecks2• 11 years ago

I think it might be "todo overload". When I get an app, I write down some immediate todos and then get them done. But I also write down future todos and after a while I just get bogged down in the list.

tosh2• 11 years ago

Don't do Inbox Zero.

I forgot the quote but it is very spot on imho: your inbox is someone elses todo list. Especially starting the day with email is one of the worst things you can do imho. It puts you into reactive mode.

You want to stay pro-active and actively chose the things you need to be on top of.

I keep a few tabs open on email threads that are important to me and for people I'm close to I usually tell them to reach out to me via facebook (white-list opt-in vs opt-out).

I can not emphasize enough how big of a game changer that was. People think about handling email and inbox zero all the time and obsess about it as if processing all emails in a day was the key to getting stuff done. I think that's too narrow of a pov.

Disclaimer: CEO & Product @ blossom.io

atmosx• 11 years ago

I have a personalized, really awesome looking notebook (Stamford made) and the OSX + mac 2Do app.

jason_slack• 11 years ago

I use old fashioned pen and paper.

I have a weekly calendar, one column for each day and it is 8.5x11 landscape. I plot out my week with things like errands, standard weekly things like "put out the garbage", "pick up co-op share", etc. Add in work tasks, etc. Cross off when done. Circle when not finished.

I also have a "shit list" as it is entitled. Tasks here need to get completed or bad things happen :-)

So I carry around a few pieces of paper and my trusty pen.

mhoad• 11 years ago

I have a relatively strict Omnifocus workflow that I use to manage everything. It genuinely was such a relief to get everything out of my head and into a system that I could 100% rely on if I just followed a couple of simple rules consistently. There is no way I could go back to trying to mentally manage everything again.

Gustomaximus• 11 years ago

I started using Outlook Tasks. Combined with the calendar this is a very efficient system if you stay disciplined and take the extra couple seconds to manage this. Part of this is keeping a clean inbox but rather than doing everything as it comes through I use this criteria:

-Do it

-Decide When

-Delegate It

-Delete

Everything email gets responded, forwarded, allocated to a task with dates or placed in the calendar with time booked. I try and limit this review to the morning/lunch and afternoon. Otherwise I turn of all email notifications (with a few VIP's set up) and crack on with the day.

Ask HN: How do you prioritise your daily tasks and to-dos?

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