a poll: managing to-do lists? ...

[alexr_rwx]

I think I want a new way to manage my to-do list. Usually I just keep one or several files called TODO, often in project-specific directories... but they get out of date, they're scattered across different computers, they're not public (so people can't be like "why are you so slow on task X?!", or at least I can't be worried that they might)...

What do you guys think? What do you do? What do you recommend?

[Poll #914662]

Comments

[billings.livejournal.com]

Get a whiteboard and use it as your main to-do list. Every day revise it on the whiteboard for the next day, and write it down on something you can keep on your person in the morning before leaving home.

[neuroticmonk.livejournal.com]

I've found that a small legal pad is ideal for todo lists. You keep all your todo items in one place, regardless of project. Cross them off as you get them done. When the page gets too full or too many things are crossed off, then copy everything over to a new page. When I first started, my team lead told me to copy everything over at the start of the day. I did that for several months and it works well. Now though, I use the approach I described to you.

[jane-doe-9.livejournal.com]

Oh, oh I vote for random scraps of paper!!! hehe

Although in all seriousness, I love my planner. Very portable, cheap, and easy to use.

[eponis.livejournal.com]

For a while, I kept my todo list as an ongoing "letter draft" in gmail. Now I mostly use Google Desktop, since my work computers have Windows.

Google ownz0rz me.

[samarin.livejournal.com]

Maybe hipster PDA (http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/03/introducing-the-hipster-pda/)?

[gtv42.livejournal.com]

I'm a big fan of Post-It notes. I use four colors: bright yellow, green, pink, and blue (sometimes purple).

On the wall next to my desk, I make a calendar using the sticky notes. Blue notes spell out the month and the days of the week, yellow notes form the weekends, green notes form the weekdays, and pink notes denote days where something important is happening or due. Sharpie numbers in the upper right hand corners, all notes spaced about an inch apart from one another. Notes can be written on the notes, days can be replaced when new things come up, and when the month ends, I stick the used notes randomly in a big cloud along the top half of the wall.

All the pads of Post-It notes live on my desk. I use them to supplement the To Do listings on the calendar by sticking notes to the desk next to my laptop, and on the wall in front of me I put reminders and other free form information (eg. how to tar a directory in the command line).

[cola-fan.livejournal.com]

To keep up with today's fast-paced world, it is important that your system be constantly changing. By changing the format, media, and location of each entry, your tasks will transcend the limitations of their situation and vibrate with the eternal.

[oniugnip.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Graham, next time I need help getting deified, I'm calling you first!

[scottique.livejournal.com]

I have one of those big "in-box" style upright document holders. If it has to get done, it goes in there. The whole thing gets emptied periodically (once a week or so) and anything that's in there has to be dealt with--bills, correspondence, et cetera. It's mostly for mail, but I stick everything in there--checks to deposit, et cetera. It's certainly working better than the "lose all the bills and then make late payments" method of adult-life-organization.

Totally random (okay not random) question: Do you know a guy named Wes Wilson? GaTech class of '05, CS focus on AI?

[oniugnip.livejournal.com]

It's entirely possible I had a class or two with him, but I don' know this Wes fellow... why is he on your radar? Do you know him?

And thanks for the organization tips :)

[scottique.livejournal.com]

Feel free to laugh--no really--but he was on a reality TV show that I've been watching online.

Big schools are so bizarre. If you'd have asked me, "Hey, do you know _____, who graduated in your year, with your major, and even your area of specialization?" the response would have inevitably been "Yeah, of course, I had a billion classes with her and we probably lived on the same hall or worked on a project together." Ah well. :-)

...No really? This guy doesn't ring any bells?


One quotation from a challenge in which they had to "speed date" women: "I'm a programmer. I work for a transportaion studies firm. We track monkeys with lasers."

[oniugnip.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Oh yeah! I think the College of Computing said something about him, then I went to look at the wikipedia article! He was on Beauty and the Geek!

(I haven't seen it; was it good?)

[tricil.livejournal.com]

i'm not sure how effective keeping your TODO in cvs would be, have you tried walgreens for competitive pricing?

[oniugnip.livejournal.com]

*laughs* You win! :)

When I'm buying toiletries, I always think to myself "cvs co deodorant"...

[avis-vitae.livejournal.com]

http://www.xkcd.com/c192.html

i thought of you!

[oniugnip.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Aw, thanks!

(do you usually read xkcd? I think it's brilliantly geeky -- Randall really understands...)