

Ask HN: How do you work? - mcormier

How do you work?  More specifically, how do you keep your programming tasks organized.<p>When I do Mac development at home I use software called an outliner to organize, keep notes and prioritize the tasks I need to do. I started out using a program called Deep Notes (http://amarsagoo.info/deepnotes/) which is a nice simple free tool.  But now I use The Hit List (http://www.potionfactory.com/thehitlist/).<p>I’ve been looking for an equivalently good program on the Windows platform but so far have not found one.  So far I’ve tried FusionDesk (http://www.fusiondesk.com/) and am not satisfied with it.  I’m starting to get the urge to write my own software but thought I would ask around first and see if anyone knows of a good product that I have not been able to find on this vast internet.
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ScottWhigham
I used John Wood's Priorganizer for my development.
<http://www.riaform.com/product,priorganizer,product.aspx>

He doesn't actively develop it anymore which is a shame - I love it but I went
back to a notepad approach after my last big project.

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Travis
I use a hybrid, depending on where I'm working. Sometimes I use Gmail Tasks,
for high level "don't want to forget about this thing.." tasks. At home I
generally use paper / pen. At work I use notepad.

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edw519
Pen and paper.

This is a hard and fast rule that I have always followed and is absolutely
critical to my success. Just a few of the reasons:

1\. I firmly believe that analysis, design, and planning is much more
effective if it is done _away_ from the computer. These are totally different
activities from programming and they take a different mindset and environment.
That's pretty tough to do if you use computerized tools to organize.

2\. I like to spread out my notes, plans, diagrams, lists, etc. on a table to
work on them. I also tack them up on the wall above my work space, both at the
computer and in the other room. I want to give my mind every opportunity to
see the "big picture" when it's appropriate. Again, tough to do with a
computer unless you have 5 monitors.

3\. I carry my notes with me whereever I go. You never know when inspriration
will hit, and I don't want to carry a laptop everywhere and wait for it to
boot up.

4\. Bedtime is critical thinking time (both at night and in the morning). I
always have my notes and multiple colored pens with me in bed. Some of my best
ideas have come at this time. I can't imagine the same thing happening with a
laptop. I have addressed this before here:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=191275>

and here

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=290842>

Hope this helps.

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mcormier
I also use paper but I'm much more of a hybrid organizer than you. Some of my
notes are on paper and some of my notes are electronic.

My prime counter example for not organizing solely with paper is when I am
programming. Sometimes when implementing a feature that I've already planned
out I get an idea for another feature. In this case I find it more natural to
switch briefly to another program and write a short sentence about the idea.
Then I can switch back and keep programming.

Oh and thanks for the links.

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bgray
Another nice (simple) task application is Google Tasks. Not only is it simple,
it's web based which means OS non-specific! :)

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DanielStraight
Todoodlist: <http://todoodlist.com/>

