Re: To Do: Organize To Dos

1

C uses RTM, and has done for 2 or 3 years. I've never heard him say anything bad about it. You can twitter to it too, I'm sure.


Posted by: asilon | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 5:18 AM
horizontal rule
2

My wife uses RTM, and I'm thinking about switching over from the desktop app I've been using, Taskpaper.


Posted by: mrh | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 6:06 AM
horizontal rule
3

||
Breaking: Fistfight at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Eastern Orthodox vs. Armenian Orthodox. The police have the situation under control.
|>


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 6:06 AM
horizontal rule
4

I use a combination of Outlook [at work], Google Notes, and pen and paper.

Something like RTM looks interesting.


Posted by: nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 6:07 AM
horizontal rule
5

OT:

I voted! The polling place was well-staffed and quiet. As of 7:25 a.m., 20 voters.The Democrats got little pink slips and the Republicans little blue ones.

Sign count: Hillary 1, Barack 1, Ron Paul 2 (outside polling place)

Hillary 1, Barack 2 (on 1-mile residential walk to polling place).


Posted by: Pennsylvania voter #20 | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 7:06 AM
horizontal rule
6

I've been using RTM for a few months and can heartily recommend it. For me, it was replacing pen and paper, a dry erase board, and sticky notes at the office and nothing at home. I have tried the mobile version on my Blackberry curve, but I still find it quicker and easier to email to do list items to myself and then add them when I'm at a computer. I should note that I am not a very heavy user of to do lists. I think I generally have no more than ten or twenty work related items, a few of which are recurring but most of which are short term projects that can be completed in a day or two, but which I do not want to start right away, or reminders to make certain phone calls or follow up with certain people about projects already completed. I don't really know whether RTM would be more or less useful for someone who uses to do lists more extensively.


Posted by: JDS | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 7:09 AM
horizontal rule
7

I find that if you write down a to do list you feel a little better about not doing the things on the list. Every few days I copy out a fresh list. Things I actually will probably do don't necessarily go on the list, since I'm actually doing them.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 7:12 AM
horizontal rule
8

KDE users kan use Kontact or Korganizer on its own. You kan export the kontents as an iCal file and import them in a cell phone, but so far there's only synk support for Treos and other Palmware through KPilot.


Posted by: Alex | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 7:28 AM
horizontal rule
9

I just use tags in my thunderbird inbox to keep track of my lists. If I need to add something, I just send myself an email and tag it.

Kind of like this:

http://entropicprincipal.blogspot.com/2005/09/using-thunderbird-to-get-things-done.html

Or this:

http://saw.themurdaughs.com/gtd-with-gmail-whitepaper/


Posted by: spaz | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 7:29 AM
horizontal rule
10

sounds a lot of work to organize things
i'd forget to put to do things into the organizer
for now my bloknote works for me, sometimes


Posted by: read | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 7:49 AM
horizontal rule
11

10: read you misunderstand. All this organizing is a way to avoid doing things.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 7:52 AM
horizontal rule
12

There's an old thread on this. Search for "remember the milk" or "stikkit."


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 8:01 AM
horizontal rule
13

There are various first and third party bits of software to synch phones and Outlook. It would help if you told us what your phone is.


Posted by: Ginger Yellow | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 8:38 AM
horizontal rule
14

Re: the RTM site and countless others, why, oh why, can't people learn the difference between "sign up for our list" and "we had four signups today"?

w-lfs-n understands my pain.


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 8:42 AM
horizontal rule
15

14: Or every day and everyday. I don't understand why the difference in meaning is not clear. I've had actual conversations about this with people, calmly and reasonably, and they still can't make the distinction. It's not carelessness or learning disabilities, it's actual non-understanding of the different ideas communicated by the different spellings.


Posted by: Witt | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 8:49 AM
horizontal rule
16

Not spellings, of course.


Posted by: Witt | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 8:50 AM
horizontal rule
17

In their defense, spaces between words are plausibly a pointless convention.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 9:01 AM
horizontal rule
18

There there, Witt and Sir Kraab. Come, let me comfort you.

Becks, have you considered a small notebook?


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 9:01 AM
horizontal rule
19

In their defense, spaces between words are plausibly a pointless convention.

Consistently separating words by spaces became a general custom about the tenth century A.D., and lasted until about 1957, when FORTRAN abandoned the practice.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 9:09 AM
horizontal rule
20

I don't know if you can assume that computers replaced humans as the default users of language by now, let alone by 1957.


Posted by: peter | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 9:10 AM
horizontal rule
21

Todoist is less hassle than remember the milk in my limited experience. Less organised if you see what I mean.


Posted by: Nworb Werdna | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 9:14 AM
horizontal rule
22

I've been using Hiveminder for to-do stuff, with reasonable success.


Posted by: Nathan Williams | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 9:16 AM
horizontal rule
23

Oh, wait, I've got it, the perfect solution: have less to do.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 9:19 AM
horizontal rule
24

19: and Fortran got us to the moon; draw your own conclusions.

On the post topic, I have used ta-da list, and it seemed perfectly workable, if not compelling enough to get me to actually consistently use it.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 9:20 AM
horizontal rule
25

One of my friends speaks very highly of Tracks, a web application based on the principles of the book "Getting Things Done."
http://www.rousette.org.uk/projects/


Posted by: Aaron | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 10:31 AM
horizontal rule
26

I've tried the GTD for Outlook add-in recommended by David Allan's company and wasn't able to consistenly apply the discipline because it only captured the things I manage at work through e-mail. What I would love is some way to sync Outlook Calendar to Google Calendar, preferably with some chance ability to cross-link with tasks defined by MS Project and/or Mindjet MindManager, all accessable from my Windows Mobile phone.


Posted by: Chopper | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 11:02 AM
horizontal rule
27

Good luck w/ the Tracks. You have to do some very annoying setup work to your machine to get it to work. Download X, configure Y, command prompt Z, etc. I spent about an hour on it before I finally gave up.


Posted by: blortch | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 11:09 AM
horizontal rule
28

Has anyone out there tried to set themselves up w/ Tracks and made it all the way through the process?


Posted by: blortch | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 11:10 AM
horizontal rule
29

Mindjet MindManager!

Freaky!


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 12:45 PM
horizontal rule
30

Becks, you just got a mac, right? Anxiety is a really nice todo application (freeware for leopard only): it stays in the front of your other apps. You can move it out of the way, but you can't forget it: good for things you really *do* have to do.

It's not online, obvs., but I thought I'd mention it.


Posted by: bitchphd | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 1:48 PM
horizontal rule
31

Becks, what you need is an executive assistant.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 1:54 PM
horizontal rule
32

A gmail account with nice color-coded labels for searching/filtering? If you use Firefox, you can use the "gtd inbox" add-on for extra gtd-ness, if you're into that.
As a bonus, the colors make your inbox pretty.


Posted by: cerebrocrat | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 1:56 PM
horizontal rule
33

I use Things, a freeware to-do list with repeatable tasks and different projects and areas, but offline on a desktop computer.

Also the Printable CEO Emergent Task Timer to keep track of where the day goes.


Posted by: Wrongshore | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 3:25 PM
horizontal rule
34

I have a Mac but I'm looking for something I can use (and access) both on my Mac at home and my PC at work.


Posted by: Becks | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 5:31 PM
horizontal rule
35

Do any of these organizing systems offer something akin to freehand flexibility? I like colors and tags and all those nice categorical systems, but a huge proportion of my notes to myself are influenced by where I put them on the page, the shape of the lettering, and other non-textual cues.

I guess I use this system most of all in lecture notes or interview notes, but it's pretty common in my To-Dos too.


Posted by: Witt | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 5:41 PM
horizontal rule
36

OK, I'm trying out Remember The Milk but every time I add a new task through the GUI, it immediately marks it as complete. It's dealbreakingly annoying. Halp.


Posted by: Becks | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 7:35 PM
horizontal rule
37

It's not actually marking it done--the check in the checkbox indicates that that's the active task which you can edit at that moment. Took me a while to figure out too.


Posted by: Chopper | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 8:13 PM
horizontal rule
38

29: It's the best brainstorming tool I've found, either individually or in groups.


Posted by: Chopper | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 8:15 PM
horizontal rule
39

OK, Catherine, Kate, and I are all huddling around reading 37 and think that's really dumb.


Posted by: Becks | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 8:16 PM
horizontal rule
40

39: ta-da list is super straightforward, I must say. Great iPhone support, too, when you get your iPhone.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 8:17 PM
horizontal rule
41

OK, RTM works now but I still think that's a pretty dumb interface.


Posted by: Becks | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 8:19 PM
horizontal rule
42

Ta-da doesn't let you do end dates or post by email.


Posted by: Becks | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 8:20 PM
horizontal rule
43

True. They value simplicity.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 8:21 PM
horizontal rule
44

41: Yup.

FYI, I just synced my Outlook calendar to Google calendar. Pretty cool--now all I need to do is figure out how to sync Outlook taks to RTM, and I think I'm golden. I wonder if I can backend it through RTM --> Windows Mobile Tasks --> MS Outlook.


Posted by: Chopper | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 8:36 PM
horizontal rule
45

Answer: Yes.


Posted by: Chopper | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 8:58 PM
horizontal rule
46

Holy crap, CNN reports that things are down to 3%.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 9:00 PM
horizontal rule
47

Or alternately, I can't read. 10%.

Hello!


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 9:01 PM
horizontal rule
48

Or post in the right thread. You people!

And by "you people", of course I mean "me."


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 9:02 PM
horizontal rule
49

And I just got MindManager to set a task in Outlook, which synced to my phone, which synced to Google Calendar. Beauty.


Posted by: Chopper | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 9:11 PM
horizontal rule
50

Re: Tracks setup. Yes - after much tearing of hair and gnashing of teeth. It was on a shared server at one of my hosted accounts.

Haven't tried the Gmail outlook sync yet. I use a combination of plain text files + GeekTool (at home) and Samurize (at work) to keep my 'have to dos' in pretty plain view.

That and some judicious outlook flagging at work to make it match the labeling system (sort of) in Gmail means that I keep my head almost at water-level. (never above). I've tried just about all of the systems though - I like lists. :)


Posted by: katmandu | Link to this comment | 04-22-08 11:47 PM
horizontal rule