

Ask HN: Goal Setting Software - kevTheDev

Hey people,<p>Does anyone know of any good web based software out there that allows me to keep track of goals and the stuff I need to do to make them?<p>I used to use todo lists, but they're not quite what I'm looking for. I want something more along the lines of a roadmap, kind of what Trac has if anyone has used that...<p>Cheers<p>kev_the_dev
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JeffJenkins
If you're on a Mac, you could try OmniFocus. It's a pretty decent
implementation of Getting Things Done (the core of which is what you're
describing). I've been using it since it was in beta and I'm really happy with
it.

It lets you make folders, projects, and actions. Actions can have start/end
dates, repetitions, and contexts. The idea of contexts is that you should be
able to see what actions are available to you at any time in any place.
Actions can have sub-actions and you can specify whether the sub-actions have
to be done in sequence or can be done concurrently. You can also set up a
global quick-entry hotkey which will let you enter an action and have it
placed in your Inbox so you can organize it later.

There's also an iphone app, but I haven't found it teribly useful. OmniFocus
has the ability to grab tasks from Mail.app in a special (user-defined) format
and I found that works as well for adding new tasks as anything.

The downside is that it's $80. I got it for $40 when it was in beta, and I
think it's a much harder sell at $80. If you aren't interested in this, or
aren't on a mac, just google "getting things done" or "GTD"

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arien
How about Tracks? <http://getontracks.org/>

It's also based on the GTD philosophy, it's very easy to use and has some nice
features. You can find an online version here, try the demo first to see if
you like it: <https://tracks.tra.in>

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unalone
If you're on a Mac, get Things.

<http://culturedcode.com/things/>

Beautiful software, incredibly easy. I can't deal with get-things-done
software, but if I had to use a program, this would be the one I used.

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kevTheDev
Just to further clarify what I want, I like to break tasks down so that I'm
constantly working on the "Next possible logical step" no matter how small.

Most of the time I just write them in a list in a text editor, but then i get
to the point where i need to clear out my scratchpad - thus losing track of my
progress.

Obviously seeing my progress in a chart/graph is not necessary to get stuff
done but it might help with motivation :)

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lehmannro
In order to break down tasks into next smallest steps Chandler might come in
handy. <http://chandlerproject.org/>

No matter what your collections will just keep growing (if you do not delete
items but rather mark them _DONE_ ) so that could be a little demotivating.

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nonrecursive
It's not a web app, but I highly recommend OmniFocus for mac and iphone. The
desktop app and iphone app can sync with each other, which is nice. I use it
all the time, and it's great for doing brain dumps, then organizing projects
and todos.

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chanux
I use GTD tiddly wiki. And I wrote about it on my blog
<http://chanux.wordpress.com/category/computinglife/>

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hboon
Saw this - <http://www.joesgoals.com/>. I have not used it before. Why not try
it out and let us know?

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eoyola
If you're an Emacs user, I suggest the Org Mode package.

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Devilboy
I've been experimenting with gmail and tags but it's not much better than just
using a spreadsheet at the moment.

~~~
kevTheDev
yeah, i haven't tried that myself, but I don't think it would improve my
current situation that much...

