
The Search for the Perfect To-do List - steve_w
http://steveworsley.com/on/the-search-for-the-perfect-to-do-list
======
Chris2048
I haven't found a decent ToDo list with this killer feature: dependencies.

I want to mark a task as dependant on another being done.

I want to add time estimates to those tasks, and see a gantt chart. I want
tasks to show the sum of their dependencies estimates next to their own
estimates.

I want priorities to also flow through dependency chains in this manner - if a
high priority task is dependant on a low priority task, the low priority task
inherits the high priority while that relationship exists. If a deadline of
7pm exists on one task, and it has a dependant task with an estimate of 1hr,
that dependency will inherit a deadline of 6pm.

~~~
julianpye
This is key for any ADDers - chains of dependencies to ensure that not only
raisins are picked off your ToDo List and you get to only see next steps and
not all steps. For the past three years I have been working on this in an app
sideproject and planned to launch the beta this winter, but I keep getting
distracted :) Android alpha testers can get in touch with me.

~~~
jwdunne
Send me an email. This sounds awesome :)

~~~
Chris2048
me too :-)

------
jasim
Most todos are meant to be recorded and discarded. They are just a
psychological mechanism to cope with the anxiety of an overly complex world.
The todo-list of an average home-maker today would be more complex than that
of the princes from a few centuries ago. My todo lists are fluid. I keep them
in a big text file, tag them with a date, and keep them there. Once something
is recorded, it is off my mind. I'll keep coming back to this file once every
while, and realize that most things I recorded are no longer important. There
is no one canonical todo list; just an almost immutable archive of lists that
I recorded over the years.

The todo-mania is not any different than the bookmarking OCD or the million-
open-tabs infestation. There are only so many moments in a lifetime, and just
so much you can and should do. The important ones would come back to you, and
for the rest, there is always the todo list.

(Of course professional todos are a different matter - they go into a
ticketing system and are meant to be done.)

~~~
hacker_9
> They are just a psychological mechanism to cope with the anxiety of an
> overly complex world.

I'm not sure I agree with you there. Sure the world is complex, but then again
so are we. Todo lists allow you to see the bigger picture, as the act of
writing down your todo/idea makes you invest time in thinking about it
coherently and logically as you convert it to English words on paper. Once you
have a list going, you can prioritize it by any means (ease to complete,
upcoming events it's needed for etc) and then at least you know that if you
were to complete the list in order, then you will achieve your goals/meet
deadlines etc.

It's that safety of 'knowing' a path through the unknowns in your future that
makes writing a list worthwhile.

~~~
jasim
I wasn't making a value judgement on complexity. That can't be helped. And
yes, writing clarifies, and todo lists are a great way of mapping an uncertain
future and reducing anxiety.

------
eitally
The perfect to-do list is the one that inspires you to do the things on the
list. This is highly individual.

I'm glad you found that Trello works well for you, but that doesn't mean
everyone else's search will end in the same place.

~~~
ghaff
I number of years back, we were looking for a new activity tracking system at
the company where it worked. (Meetings, papers, etc.) One of the things that
became very obvious was that the decision was going to end up being very
influenced by things like the nature of the activities, the degree to which it
was important to track progress in an ongoing project, and what were the
important attributes to record.

We actually ended up repurposing a bug tracking system (trac) because the
price was right and it mostly fitted what we were trying to do. But a number
of well-regarded project rtacking systems just didn't click with our needs.

------
ajarmst
[http://orgmode.org/](http://orgmode.org/)

------
pedrokost
The blog Post rings a tune with me. I've started organizing all the work
related projects into Trello boards,and have iterated quite a bit on my
workflow.

Next to a board for scrum, I also have a board reserved for planning work
things to do in the long term future, like a backlog, but coverings many
different aspects of company mostly related to software dev, but also some
hardware and marketing.

Eventually I wanted to be able to measure how long would it take to complete
some tasks, and prioritize them across lists.

The way I solved this way with a plugin for sublime text, the editor I use all
day long [0]. The plugin reads metadata I add to each task on Trello like
(backend 1d design 4h) and uses it to compute a schedule for all my tasks. It
is also able to prioritize between posts, which in in my case are fucus areas.

When I need to prepare the next sprint, all I have to to is use the plugin to
tell me which tasks have the highest priorities, and occasionally review the
Planning board.

The plugin was initially developed for Trello, but I found it really useful
also for offline task scheduling between different projects.

You can read more about how I use it on my blog [1].

[0][https://github.com/pedrokost/STProjectPlanner](https://github.com/pedrokost/STProjectPlanner)
[1][http://blog.pedro.si/2015/11/project-planning-in-
file.html?m...](http://blog.pedro.si/2015/11/project-planning-in-
file.html?m=1)

------
antognini
I've found WorkFlowy [1] to be helpful. It's just a touch more sophisticated
than a text editor (you can collapse different levels, for instance, and
there's an app so you can take notes on your phone, too). But it's not so
sophisticated that you get lost in the features. It gets out of the way so you
can make your lists. I've been using it for years now.

[1]: [https://workflowy.com](https://workflowy.com)

~~~
phirschybar
I tried this years ago and was just reminded by this post to check it out
again. This is an absolutely PERFECT task and notes organizer for me. Super
fast, intuitive and without all of the typical todo app bloat.

------
wimagguc
Todoist kept losing my todo items when they were stacked below each other in a
two-level hierarchy (it might have been a keyboard shortcut or an error on my
side -- we've ran through this with their customer service without any luck,
but that's not the point).

With my broken Todoist I've avoided creating multi-level items and eventually
cleaned up the list with this one question: is this task something I'm
actually going to do?

If the answer is yes, then it goes to the list.

If not, then I discard it right away.

It's surprising how much of an anxiety relief this is. Todo apps tend to offer
ways too many options, which makes you use them as backlogs or even notebooks.
In my case, all those items were actionable - I've read GTD too -, the items
just weren't important enough at most times. Now I get rid of the unimportant
items on-the-fly.

~~~
aygul
We're sorry to hear your issue hasn't been solved after contacting our support
team. Safety of user data is our priority #1! Could you please let me know if
you're still experiencing any problem with Todoist and we'll be happy to help
you either here or at
[http://support.todoist.com/](http://support.todoist.com/).

~~~
wimagguc
Todoist support was awesome, but after about a month of investigation the
ultimate solution for me was to stop using stacked items -- since I have none
of those, the problem doesn't exist either, and I can keep using Todoist (as
I've been, for 6+ years).

------
jackgavigan
To-Do Lists is one of those things that bugs me a lot. There are hundreds of
apps out there but none of them seem to do them particularly well.

I think the perfect To-Do list would have

\- the ability create (and allow others to create, subject to black/white-
listing) a task by sending an email to my list

\- the ability to delegate tasks to others (whether they're users of the
app/service or not)

\- order in a way that takes urgency, importance and deadlines into account

\- an intray, so I can accept/reject tasks sent/delegated to me

\- Mailbox app-style swiping to snooze tasks or mark them as Done

\- shared To-Do lists (e.g. for teams)

\- support for sharing tasks with others so they can comment on them

\- API integration

\- dependencies and workflows

I created some mock-ups a few months back to illustrate my thinking:
[http://jackgavigan.com/1tray-concept/](http://jackgavigan.com/1tray-concept/)

~~~
dannylandau
I've tried a few and really like Wunderlist --
[https://www.wunderlist.com](https://www.wunderlist.com)

~~~
qznc
I'm also using Wunderlist currently, but still experimenting with the how.
Should list live long or short? Now I'm trying short-lived: an extra list per
week. This adds an implicit deadline on the items in there. Now nesting lists
also makes sense for me.

------
ZenoArrow
I just end up using text files or written notes. Works both as a to do list
and idea scratchpad. The only thing I'd want to change is be more organised
about keeping the text files in sync (we can't use Dropbox at work, so I end
up using emails).

I've heard good things about org mode in emacs, wonder what added value I'd
get from that.

~~~
mikekchar
Org mode is amazing as a TODO list. As you've noticed, text files are really
convenient for a variety of reasons. If you like emacs (I've been using evil
mode recently), then it's pretty much the ideal user interface for outlining
tasks and keeping track of them. Prioritisation is simply a matter of cut and
paste. The visibility features of org mode make it very easy to keep track of
a lot of items. It also has support for setting deadlines, time tracking and
reporting.

It's worth spending an afternoon playing with it. There are a lot of features.

------
glaberficken
What works for me

 _For work:_ Outlook Tasks list on the right hand pane

Killer features:

\- Single click to flag any email as a task

\- Drag and Drop to reorder

\- Set custom date/time folow up reminders

 _For personal life:_ For things with no deadline - A gmail thread with my
wife where we just keep "replying all"; For things with dates / deadlines - A
Shared google calendar with my wife

I guess its a highly personal choice...

~~~
krembo
I think what makes Outlook Tasks list work for you is the fact that it's there
in-your-face all the time, already embedded into the mail app you use. This
little step of saving you the need to open a different app in a different
window makes the real difference for most people.

Actually, this was the main reason I've used Sortd & Yanado (highly
recommended) a while.

~~~
Jtsummers
This is why one of my four monitors at work has emacs w/ org-mode up. Its
omnipresence makes it easier to work into my daily workflow. But most folks
don't end up with 4 monitors. This setup doesn't work as well on my home
laptop since I don't have the space to dedicate to this.

------
jjp
I've given up chasing the software solution and realised that a paper to do
list (managed in a Filofax) is the optimal for me. Most of my tasks come my
way through face to face discussion so there's no email to convert to a task
etc. And if it can't be taken off the list this week then it's probably a
project that needs diarying.

I do use Outlook for diary management but that's because I work in a corporate
environment and trying to do anything else would be working against the
system. But it's one calendar for everything (work and personal).

~~~
basseq
Paper works for me, too. I get intense cathartic satisfaction in drawing my
checkboxes (with drop shadows)--my co-workers make fun of me.* There's value
in not only having a to-do list, but re-writing it from time-to-time.

I've tried multiple software applications, from plain text, to trello, to
custom software. Nothing works as well.

* This actually serves another purpose as well: in a page full of notes, my drop-shadowed action items pop out.

------
insulanian
I'm using Trello every day, but I don't like that it is too manual. It's like
a physical board. There are no options to automate certain things, especially
task order and recurrence. I spend too much time maintaining correct order to
avoid important tasks moving out of sight.

My ideal system would do the ordering for me, according to the priority, date,
postpone hints, and other task properties.

~~~
dtien
I like Trello primarily because of the fact that it forces some manual
intervention on your part: 1) it forces and motivates you to complete tasks 2)
the act of moving things, or checking things off provides a healthy boost on
progress ( real or not ).

As for the recurrence part, there is a way to do that through Trello. I create
cards and entire boards for recurring tasks that I have to do each iteration,
when that iteration begins I just use the "Copy list.." and copy it to the new
board and Bam a whole new set of tasks to check off.

------
superskierpat
Suprised nobody has mentionned taskwarrior[1] yet! Its very flexible and can
even be kept on a server. For example I've got it set up so giving it a link
automatically puts in the pages title as a description and puts it in my
reading list.

1\. [https://taskwarrior.org/](https://taskwarrior.org/)

------
fovc
With the time it takes to maintain that setup, you could probably do another
task or two per day

~~~
steve_w
It doesn't really take that long on a day to day basis. It's the review period
which can take a while.

------
miguelrochefort
The perfect to-do list will be a semantic marketplace of outcomes.

You describe the outcomes you want in life using a formal semantic language,
and broadcast them for the world to see. Then, anyone who has the ability to
satisfy the expected outcome (i.e., "I'm at work at 8AM") - bet it yourself, a
friend, or a taxi driver - can engage in a contract where the conditions of
all parties are described and agreed upon. Then, the contract or commitment to
make an ideal become real becomes your task.

Software will simply become an interface to an ideal world, expressed through
deltas with the real world. Your job as an agent is to maintain ideals you
committed to maintain (i.e., "Don't drive when drunk", "Don't eat peanuts",
"Keep your blood sugar below 150", "Don't have your location be within an area
that's private property you don't have access to").

Laws of physics, laws of your state, preferences and other contracts populate
the ideal you're expected to maintain and approach. Failing to do that hurts
your social credit score, which in turns lowers the chance others will bring
the world closer to your own ideals.

A to-do list is just a list of things that are wrong with the world. Until we
have a system that enables us to precisely communicate and share these deltas,
actions will remain meaningless words on a piece of physical/digital paper
that only a motivated human can parse.

~~~
lfowles
So, the ideal to-do list will be defined in prolog?

~~~
miguelrochefort
Assuming that prolog is the best language to represent these goals, yes.

But I believe we can do much better than prolog.

------
collyw
Pen and paper still works out way more flexible than any of the todo lists I
have tried.

~~~
deadcast
Yeah that solution still works just fine for me. Also just using a plain text
file works well too.

~~~
collyw
I was using a google doc for my task list / bug tracker at a previous job.
Then we got Jira involved. No one bothered to fill it in properly, so it was
more hassle than it was worth. Actually it was way more hassle then the google
doc and far less flexible.

------
galfarragem
GTD is a system that each one should 'distill and blend' according his own
view of the world. Somehow the blog author 'distills' GTD towards personal
development. By the other hand, my 'distillation' is more generalist. If it
helps somebody:

[https://github.com/eniomauro/hamster-
gtd](https://github.com/eniomauro/hamster-gtd)

~~~
cJ0th
GettingThingsGnome is what I use.

[http://gtgnome.net/](http://gtgnome.net/)

------
nextos
IMHO GTD-based approaches are not optimal for knowledge workers cause they
don't limit work-in-progress, and this ends up being overwhelming.

~~~
bachmeier
I'm not sure I understand your comment (I don't know what you mean by "limit
work-in-progress") but one of the principles is to be explicit and formal
about all the projects you've got going, as opposed to having fuzzy ideas
about an unlimited number of potential projects in your head. When you track
all of these projects, you adopt a more realistic approach, and you think more
carefully about whether or not to start one.

~~~
nextos
I mean GTD got lots of things right (have an inbox, split tasks/tasks with
deadlines/events), but it is missing the WIP limit from kanban which is very
important.

------
rsaarelm
I've been using the todo.txt format lately:
[https://github.com/ginatrapani/todo.txt-cli/wiki/The-
Todo.tx...](https://github.com/ginatrapani/todo.txt-cli/wiki/The-Todo.txt-
Format) . No extra tools, just Vim, a text file with a line per task, with the
lines kept lexically sorted.

------
samsolomon
When I moved into my role at an ad agency we went through a series of software
to keep track of to-do lists. Things, Wunderlist and what seems like a dozen
others. The problem for me was always that it is so much easier just to write
something down on a piece of paper or in a simple text file—software isn't the
best solution to every problem.

EDIT: I have a very simple system for my tasks:

\- One sheet of paper each day with all of my projects and related tasks under
those projects.

\- Pending items get a check—these are actions you've completed, but require
someone else to take action.

\- Completed items get crossed out.

\- At the end of the day, I create a new list for tomorrow and transfer any
pending items of items not finished over.

For further explanation I wrote a bit about my habits last year:
[http://solomon.io/todo-list-framework/](http://solomon.io/todo-list-
framework/)

------
mathattack
I'm very interested in the topic as I've struggled to replace the efficacy of
my old Franklin Planner.

I've tried Google calendar reminders, and that hasn't worked. Evernote hasn't
been great either. I don't want to go back to Notepad.

Maybe the issue is having the discipline to spend 15 minutes a day planning?

~~~
goshx
was discipline an issue with your old Franklin Planner?

~~~
mathattack
No. I'd spend 15 mins at the start of the day, and would take it everywhere
except the bathroom.

My intuition is that there should be something similar on a smartphone.

~~~
Jtsummers
iOS/OS X only, but OmniFocus has worked well for me in this regard.
Synchronizes across devices, and scheduled tasks are visible in my calendar,
and calendar events are visible to OmniFocus.

If I could use it on my work computer I'd be set (Windows and Linux
environment).

------
meesterdude
It's interesting all the solutions people come up with to tackle GTD. I don't
think i've met two people with the same implementation. But really, whats
important is finding something that works for you, and thats different for
everyone.

Relatedly, I built something for myself, but am working on launching it. I
wasn't satisfied with any GTD options out there, and really just wanted a
brain for my brain. Something i could just dump thoughts and todos into and it
would automatically manage them for me.

You can actually see some of this in action in the screenshot from a recent
update: [http://blog.mindaux.com/blog/2016/02/27/sneak-peak-beta-
acce...](http://blog.mindaux.com/blog/2016/02/27/sneak-peak-beta-access/)

------
joch
I recently published my current OmniFocus/GTD workflow, which has been working
really well for me. [http://johnny.chadda.se/the-2016-omnifocus-setup-and-
workflo...](http://johnny.chadda.se/the-2016-omnifocus-setup-and-workflow/)

~~~
reubenswartz
that's a nice write up and very helpful.

~~~
joch
Thank you! There are so many way of implementing GTD and countless posts on
parts of everyone's setup, so I just figured I just post my entire setup in
one single article.

------
miguelrochefort
I'm obsessed with task management. I have read Getting Things Done many times.
I've used a lot (~50) of different task management systems over the years, and
haven't found one that's good enough.

Todo lists and task management software won't ever solve the problem. The
problem has to do with the way the system works, how the society is modeled.
The application paradigm (where we have disconnected apps that do few things
well) is the root cause.

It should be obvious that the solution is to change the UX of software as a
whole. Get rid of the silly WIMP paradigm, and move to a more task-oriented
one. Make the OS your task management system, and let apps (now semantic
agents) help you achieve them.

What we lack is breakthroughs in language. We need a better semantic model to
describe and model expected outcomes.

~~~
drjesusphd
> Make the OS your task management system

Can anyone who is more familiar with orgmode describe how it might play this
role?

~~~
npsimons
> > Make the OS your task management system

> Can anyone who is more familiar with orgmode describe how it might play this
> role?

Emacs, full screen
([https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/FullScreen](https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/FullScreen)),
auto-starting org-mode, and do everything you can in it
([http://blog.vivekhaldar.com/post/3996068979/the-levels-of-
em...](http://blog.vivekhaldar.com/post/3996068979/the-levels-of-emacs-
proficiency)). It helps if you already use Emacs, such as writing software in
it.

~~~
drjesusphd
Yeah there's my problem. I've heard wonderful things about orgmode, to the
point that people think it's worth switching. But I'm a vim user and I'm not
sure if it's worth the trouble. Trying to get a variety of opinions.

~~~
lemonberry
I just switched from vim to emacs for org-mode. I use evil and the key
mappings are very, very close. Give it a shot. It's really good. eLisp is kind
of fun to play around with, I already grok that better than the vim language.

A couple perks of the switch: org-mode, magit (wrapper for git), elisp is kind
of fun and makes customizing emacs really approachable (subjective of course),
I used to live in the commandline (bash, tmux, vim) but I've found that I
navigate my system faster and better than before (buffers and registers).

There's a steep learning curve, but being willing to read documentation is
helpful. It's definitely been worth it for me. And I do think that
conceptually thinking of emacs as an OS or interface to your computer rather
than a text editor is helpful.

------
programminggeek
I prefer paper todo lists, but to actually move the needle I write down my 3-5
highest leverage activities and do one at a time. I cross them off as I finish
them and at the end of the day I tear out the page and throw it away.

There was no great notebook out there for this, so my biz partner and I
designed our own. We are selling them on Amazon because we have day jobs and
don't have time to mess with fulfilling orders. You can see them here:
[http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZGE1914/](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZGE1914/)

For me, it's the perfect todo list.

------
krembo
Unless the todo list app is fully integrated into your daily routine/one of
the apps you use at least 20% of your time, they just end up a a brain-dump
tools, which is not a bad practice by the way for making your mind more
organized. Having said that, I would repeat and emphasize a recommendation I
wrote to another user in this thread-> check apps which DO integrate into one
of your existing tools and doesn't require you to open a new window. Actually,
I find this extra click on a new tab or an icon in the system tray is a REAL
barrier to adopting those endless lists.

------
truebosko
I've tried many TODO apps, and apart from my Inbox being a (small) TODO list,
I just maintain a tmux window called "notes", and it's literally a large file
I type into via vim daily.

I never remove notes, I just add a new header for each note I need to take.
These notes are eventually moved into actionable items (Trello is good for
this), or if the task is quick and small, I maintain a generic "TODO" at the
top of the file and delete that line item when the task is complete.

Keeping it simple just means I don't think about it, and actually get shit
done.

------
eukaryote
I have tried a few tools for to-do lists, but settled on 3 folders in my
inbox: ACTION, READ & WANT.

I created some rules: subject beginning TODO goes to ACTION, subject beginning
READ goes to READ, subject beginning WANT goes to WANT folder. This means I
can add to any list just by sending a mail to myself.

I created additional rules so all emails from credit card companies, banks,
accountant and other important senders goes straight into ACTION folder.

I try and ensure all unread items are dealt with daily. If I set it to read,
it becomes non-urgent.

------
inthewoods
I've tried every to-do product out there - none worked for me. The best method
I've found is to actually schedule time in my calendar to work on different
projects. I find if I don't block out time to actually work on them, they
don't get done.

Does anyone know of a to-do list manager that works this way? I ask because
while I like this method, it is difficult to see all your to-dos or deal with
a to-do that has multiple steps.

~~~
keenans
[https://getplan.co](https://getplan.co)

------
rabboRubble
Nobody has mentioned Any.do? I've used a day planner, 2Do, Clear, paper, plus
looked at a half dozen others.

The one tool, Any.Do, has really helped me grind away at life priorities. When
I decided to migrate from 2Do to Any.Do, I had around 180 tasks in 2Do. Today
I'm at 24 and the only reason it's over 20 is because of tax season, Chinese
study, and an investment project.

The list will be back down under 20 soon enough and heading to 10.

------
dalacv
I'll just place this here: [http://tiddlywiki.com/](http://tiddlywiki.com/)

------
kyberias
This article isn't really coherent or is it?

~~~
datashaman
Looks like OCD to me. _shrug_

------
hackuser
I have yet to meet anyone who kept and followed a todo list over the long
term. Can anyone say otherwise?

It just doesn't seem to be human nature to do it consistently beyond short
bursts of focus, like dieting and following step-by-step procedures.

~~~
sjenson
I've used a todo list, in some form for over 10 years. I'm currently using
WorkFlowy and have used it nearly every day for 2 years now. I'm one of those
'minimal GTD' types that just needs to get everything down so in the morning,
I can make sure I'm focusing on the right things. Nothing heavy, just a simple
way to reflect and focus.

------
bsbechtel
I'm surprised no one here has commented that they just use the iOS Reminders
app that's native to the iPhone. I've found it to be more effective than any
other system out there, and it's also significantly simpler.

~~~
vinceguidry
That's what I use. I have a web app I built for the purpose, and gradually
found an equilibrium whereby certain tasks go in Reminders, others go into the
app. After awhile I stopped using the app. I need to build support for getting
stuff into and out of Reminders programmatically so I can do recurring tasks
without cluttering up the interface too much. I want my own interface for
managing them.

------
Nk26
I'd like one that will show future repeated tasks in the list. If I have
something that repeats every week id like to see in the list with the stuff I
have planned for the next few weeks.

------
dbg31415
GitHub Issues + [https://www.zenhub.io/](https://www.zenhub.io/) works great
for me & my team.

------
dostick
No mention of hiTask.com ? built in 2007, GTD, single unique dashboard with
calendar. And team collaboration features.

~~~
steve_w
I'm not sure how I missed that. I've never heard of if hiTask! A friend
pointed out Bullet Journal
([http://bulletjournal.com/](http://bulletjournal.com/)) too. I like the idea
of having it all in your notebook but it does mean you have to carry it around
everywhere.

~~~
qznc
I use one idea from bulletjournal regularly: Whenever I scribble down a note
to do something later, I put a box before it. When it is done (done might
simply mean scheduled into my real calender) I checkmark the box.

It is very easy to scan a page for boxes and it works everywhere. For example,
on printed slides discussed in a meeting or a post-it from the refrigerator.

------
JohnLeTigre
I am personally addicted to TodoList from abstractspoon. Too bad they don't
have a linux version though.

------
Aleman360
Piece of paper.

------
cableshaft
So a while back I came up with my ideal way to keep track of progress and next
steps for my personal projects, and this seems like a good place to get
feedback on it.

I often neglect to work on them at the end of the day, because I forget I'm
working on so many and what I need to do in them, so I need a reminder of
various things I've come up with, which ones I'm actively working on, which
ones are on the backburner, which ones are essentially abandoned, etc.

Additionally, my motivation for my personal projects ebb and flow over time,
and I might have something on the backburner for a good six months and then
suddenly something pops into my head about it and I'm raring to go and my
motivation skyrockets again and it's back to the top of my list.

Third, I don't know when I'm going to be satisfied with it, and I really don't
want to put a deadline on something that's supposed to be an enjoyable
pastime. But at the same time I want to see progress. So I would like to track
when I put units of work into the project, without having to have created a
specific task to put up against it.

Finally, deadlines should not be required, nor should the sorting mechanism be
by deadlines of the tasks. I've tried things like Asana and the like, and I
keep just pushing back deadlines because I lost excitement for that project
and I'm working on something else for awhile.

So basically here's what I need from my todo for my personal projects: A list
of projects so I never forget them, preferably with an image to catch my eye
(I work on games a lot, so they're very visual, so something like box art
would be nice), a way to add a bunch of next steps in the system but only show
me a couple at a time (because reminding me of all my projects is more
important than telling me _everything_ I need to be doing for one particular
project), and a way to record that I made progress without placing it against
a specific task (I was thinking maybe have different color cubes, the colors
representing different things, and I could reward myself a work cube just for
sitting down and spending at least 5 minutes on the project, since the hardest
thing to do is to sit down and get started).

Also a status for the project would be nice. Like if it's writing it could be
'1st draft, 2nd draft', if it's a game then 'Prototype, Alpha, Beta, Gold,
Released'

I was thinking this could be visually demonstrated with a card like system
(kind of like baseball cards), with the project image on the left half of the
card and the 'stats' on the right side of the card, and then you can click +
drag the entire project card around so you can rearrange the projects to show
what you are most currently motivated in.

I would also like to include past released projects so I can see those
accumulate over time and remind myself what I've already accomplished, also in
a similar visual style. And sometimes there's more I'd like to do after the
project is released, or think of something more to do later.

I was considering making something like this myself but I have so many
projects and not enough time so the chances of me working on it are low, so if
this excites anyone, please run with it and keep me in the loop. I have some
other ideas on it and how it would look if anyone's interested.

~~~
steve_w
I can't really help with the rest but if you wanted to track units of work
without putting it against a task you could try FocusBooster
([https://www.focusboosterapp.com/](https://www.focusboosterapp.com/)) which
allows you log blocks of 25mins using the Pomodoro technique.

------
ngrilly
Is it a satire?

