Another todo list experiment
Task management for me is more about capturing stuff I need to do than tracking the completeness of tasks. I don’t get high on “checking off” to do lists. I simply need a reliable/consistent place to capture all of the minor tasks I need to get done at any given time. I also don’t use it for project management, because I’m typically aware of the larger projects going on, both in my work and freelance life. Tasks are the random things people ask me to do in a day or things that come out of meetings that I need to address or small bits of a projects that need my attention.
The key to task management for me, and this is the one thing I took out of Getting Things Done (the hard-core task management process), is that I have a reliable, consistent place to capture these tasks so I can get them out of my head. It’s all about trust… if I know I can capture a todo item somewhere and refer back to it whenever I’m ready to do something about it, I don’t need to worry about it anymore. The GTD example is going to the grocery store… if you make a mental list of what you need, your brain is constantly focused on that list… “Eggs, milk, bread, apples…” and not able to think about other things. If you write it down in a place you know you will be able to access it when you need it, you’re brain is free to do other more important things.
Here are all of the processes I have tried in the past that didn’t work:Here are all of the processes I have tried in the past that didn’t work:
tadalist.com
Custom built app
todoist.com
Gmail tasks
Remember the milk
workflowy.com
cohuman.com
strikeapp.com
But through all of these, I’ve never been able to move away from my trusty pen and notebook. The problem with most of these are that they’re online and require an internet connected device to update, which required me to have paper as a backup. This leads to multiple lists, which just can’t work for me. You shouldn’t have to spend time rewriting/gathering/managing your todo list… it should just be there so you can work on the items… not work on organizing them.
So I’ve started yet another experiment. The biggest flaw with a pen/paper todo list is that it’s not searchable or easy to refer back to later… think days or months (well after you’ve moved on to a new notebook). So to tackle that, I bought a tablet. Not an iPad! An Android tablet. I got a great deal at Woot.com on a Viewsonic gTablet. It’s hardware and screen are comparable to the iPad2, but at $270 (on Woot) it’s about 1/2 the price of the lowest tier Apple product. It’s major flaw, according to online reviews, is that the modified Android version Viewsonic added to the device is absolutely horrible. I didn’t even bother finding out how bad it was since there are dozens of tutorials (here’s the one I used) on how to root the device and add a clean version of Android, which I did within minutes of turning it on for the first time.
Note that I’ve only had the device for two week2, but I’m trying to make it replace my notebook/pen completely using the Evernote Android App. The app allows for offline and online updates, it syncs with apps on my PC, work laptop and phone and is able to capture notes, audio, pictures and websites. It’s not really a task tracking app which has me a bit concerned but it’s definitely worth the test. If Evernote doesn’t work out, I’ll probably try RTM or a similar app geared towards task tracking… if that doesn’t work its back to pen and paper :(
If you have an awesome process for tracking your to do list, feel free to share it in the comments below.
