
"True Do" - An idea. - ComNik
http://spotbloq.blogspot.de/2012/08/true-do-idea.html
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veyron
If you are really trying to solve procrastination, you have to address the
distractions.

Now, here is what I would like to see: the OFF switch. Hitting a button that
would block all electronic distractions (turning off television etc) and block
distracting sites (like youtube/reddit/HN) and disable distracting apps (like
iPhone games) for half an hour.

This most likely will involve special outlets or plugs that can be turned
on/off via wifi.

~~~
ComNik
A bit off-topic, procrastination vs. focus is a very different problem (imo),
but try the "Strict Pomodoro" Chrome Extension, has helped me improve quite a
bit.

~~~
adrianmn
Don't you get interrupted while in the zone? 25 minutes is about the time you
actually get deep into something and the mind can easily focus 1-2 hours on
task at hand, especially if you do something interesting.

~~~
ComNik
Yes, good point. I often find myself ignoring the "pause" notification. I use
it more as a take-off.

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bratsche
This kind of defeats the purpose of even presenting a list. It should only
display one task at a time if it only wants you to work on one task at a time.

~~~
smalter
Yup, good point.

I'm reminded of this: <http://nowdothis.com/>

(I believe this is a Jakob Lodwick creation.)

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jrajav
I cringe a little whenever I see someone try to solve an issue with planning
and productivity that's already been covered years ago by awesome systems like
GTD - especially when they try to solve it with technology. I want a tool, not
an infomercial-esque "solution."

To be constructive -- in order to make this useful as a tool and retain the
central value-adding idea, make sure you include tags and tag filters at the
very least. That's all you need to make it both simple enough for casual users
and versatile enough for power users. I can't tell you how many tools I would
love to try but can't because they don't have tagging or replace it with
something not versatile enough (like nested lists). Foremost among those is
Google Tasks.

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veyron
Problem is that if all you do is expose the top project, and that takes time
(for example, waiting for a long compile), you lose the ability to switch to
another task.

~~~
ComNik
I'm not sure if that is what you mean, but the whole list is visible. So you
could see your next task and work on it in the meantime. If your highest
priority task finishes, you could cross off both. But with more than a few
hours of delay, it might be hard to remember what you already got done.

But this is a valid point, I'll have to think about. Thank you!

~~~
j2bax
You could always just have the option to check the task off or put it in some
sort of hold state with a time attached to it. When that time is up the task
could become active and top most again. If your compile still isn't finished,
just set another hold on it and continue working down your list. Again this
requires some honesty as a user, but the most important thing is that the user
knows what the purpose of the app is... If they want to game it, they could
save themselves some time and just use Things or Producteev.

~~~
ComNik
Yes, I think this would'nt work without some kind of honesty. This hold-state
sounds like a good idea!

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unjinxable
The example given illustrates one of the flaws of almost all todo
implementations: "Study for math exam" - you can never check this off the list
because it can't be discretely finished.

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andrewflnr
You said "almost". Do you know one that handles continuous tasks well?

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adrianmn
The problem with procrastination is not the todo list software/system but the
procrastinator.

Also a huge flaw of online task managers is they are rigid(just a list where
you can mark things as done). Freeform task management makes organization
easier.

~~~
ComNik
Great point as well. But I'm not quite sure what you mean by "Freeform task
management". Could you elaborate on that?

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adrianmn
Freeform(think a piece of paper) allows having lists, random text ... on same
page. Evernote is great for that( I used backpack from 37 signals before that)

I like it this way because I can have my day schedule(very few things in it),
tasks list and notes(I can easy add ideas and other stuff during the day) on
same place.

My productivity system is a bit more detailed and uses evernote and google
apps. I am thinking to actually write a short book about this but not being
native english speaker holds me back(never published a book before). Does
anyone think this could be interesting?

~~~
ComNik
I think it's interesting, but start with writing a blogpost about it. Even
though I did'nt fully understand how your system works, but I'd like to read
more.

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CookWithMe
Make it free and monetize it like all the free-to-play games do:

If you want to cross of a non-top task, you have to pay increasing amounts of
(real) money, e.g. 2nd task 0.50 $, 3rd task 1$, 4th task 2$ etc.

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elliott99
Law of Blocking Distracting Websites: No how matter how many websites you
block, you will always find one that is just as entertaining.

