Basically, writing daily notes/to-do-lists with a focus on organization and brevity.
The reason Bullet written journaling didn't work for me because carrying a notebook is annoying, since I don't keep a bag with me all the time, it means I have to keep one in my pocket all the time. Also Notebooks gets damaged.
The positive was that it "feels" more personal when writing down your todo list and there is definitely a "cool" factor to it. But probably not for everyone.
Understandable re: carrying a notebook -- that was my main apprehension when starting out. Luckily, I'm at a point in my life where I'm pretty much productive only in one of three places (home, office, coffeeshop), and since I bring my laptop bag to all three anyway it's not too much trouble to throw the notebook in as well.
EDIT: Just saw www.manvsgoals.com. I think that, too, is a noteworthy approach to keeping track of 'grander' goals and tasks.
I spend maybe 10-15 minutes at the beginning and end of every day perform the organization, and "toss" tasks as I finish them throughout the day.
All the meta-analysis and catchy software, and I find that using post-its and a calendar is the most effective way for me to keep track of tasks.
I have Gmail labels for different categories and different priorities/complexities. My goal is inbox zero, so when I finish my list I pull from the labels based on the priority, complexity, and what area I'm working in (i.e. marketing, dev, content, etc.).
If I'm busy or something comes up I'll just push the items back into the folders to clear my mind and pull them out again later. If items are quick (i.e. I can do them in under a minute) I'll usually knock them out all at one time.
I'm sure there are other great solutions out there, but I don't need yet another app/account and the pain isn't great enough to switch or even try anything else. When it comes to apps (and most things), I'm a minimalist.
If Google incorporated (or someone built) a better to-do list (i.e. more robust than tasks) that worked well with Gmail they'd have massive adoption. I saw the Todoist Gmail plugin, but it's not what I'm looking for. I'd like to set some labels as to do lists. For example, if I move some emails to a label/folder I'd be able to set a priority for them and optionally a due date. I'd also be able to set a default reminder schedule for each one.
Something that isn't too complicated and uses a lot of what already exists. The key is using the workflows, processes, and tools that people already use and just making it better.
Might be time to switch away from the mail app anyways, seems to really bog down my system.
I also make heavy use of the built in notes app on my phone (500+ entries) and they serve as idea buffer when I'm away from my computer.
- todos: for the immediate future
- goals: for longer term objectives
- ideas: for spontaneous 'eureka' moments
- gotos: related bookmarks and local folders
Whenever I'm done with an item, it goes from the list into the task timeline where I journal all other progress.
I manage them all with a tool I wrote myself, called tau (shameless plug, http://signup.tau.la)
First it was scraps of paper with multi-item lists of various nature - from things fixed in the next release, to known issues, to feature requests, to random stuff with nothing in common. Then I moved to using Inkscape and it worked well, but moving items between the lists and archiving them was a hassle. There were also no search and generally it's just a vector editor, so it was a stop-gap measure. Then I thought of writing my own system, even drafted the spec only to realize that I was looking at replicating Trello. So Trello it was. It's not perfect, I would change few things about the UI and certainly re-style it, but it is surprisingly good as is.
That said I still use scraps of paper as it's the fastest option of them all.
http://doc.norang.ca/org-mode.html
That doc explains a good work flow.
For larger projects, I prefer Trello (https://trello.com). It's so good on so many levels.
For personal random things that need to get done, the whiteboard on my fridge is unbeatable.
As a Windows user, I use our own software, Swift To-Do List, that we've been developing for over 9 years - http://www.dextronet.com/swift-to-do-list-software
First of all, I use it as a task and notes database, where I store all my tasks and ideas.
Second, every evening, I print a fresh to-do list with tasks for the next day. I just pick the tasks I want to do today, right-click them and print them.
This combination of software and paper gives me the best of the both worlds - the paper on my desk helps me stay focused, and I can scribble on it, etc.
This feels very empowering, because every day, my to-do list is short, up-to-date and I can actually finish it. If you work from your "task database" with all your tasks, it can be a bit depressing to see all the unfinished stuff on a daily basis, and the progress you make doesn't seem that significant.
If you've never tried software as a task database + fresh daily to-do list printed from it, give it a go! It's awesome.
It also has a great API, free mobile apps, is open source, easy to export data via CSV or JSON, and has an amazing community behind it. The only thing it really lacks for me, right now, is a way to track larger projects, but I've started keeping those together in a weekly review doc that is separate. Highly recommended.
I like it because it has the simple input features of Clear, but with the ability to share lists, and receive notifications when a list is updated.
At work I use Trello, which is great, just too much for my personal project needs. Trello's iPad app is fantastic btw. Really intuitive and smooth.
When I'm feeling completely overwhelmed, I usually find writing out tasks on paper with a pen is the best. Sometimes it's just nice to get away from a screen and write something down.
Ultimately the problem I have with digital todo lists is todo-creep. Lists become large and unwieldy. Old todos are not automatically deleted. Pen and paper allows you to make a fresh start each day. If there is an important task you didn't finish the day before, you'll remember it and add it to the new day.
Bullet Journal allows you to organize the todo in a way that I find very useful. I've been using it for about six months now and don't think I'll ever switch.
It's not perfect, but it works reasonably well for me.
So I can just label an email as todo, or send myself an email to myname+todo@gmail.com
I need something that syncs effortlessly, works on Android / Linux / Mac, and is fast. I used Trello and Any.Do for a couple months each, but eventually got fed up with Trello slow performance on mobile and Any.Do's Chrome extension bugs.
[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-yer_cy3-Q
EDIT: I also love Trello for personal project-based items.
I am also experimenting with the Deft package for Emacs that is pretty good.
We actually use it now inside my company to assign tasks to people and manage projects. Totally awesome.
- It's easy to view the list at a glance
- It's easy to add items, move them around, mark them as done
- It is always with me, thanks to a smartphone app
- It gets unwieldy if there are too many items - this is not a bug but a feature which reminds me to keep lists manageable!
Can't beat notepad+paper for simplicity though.
Command, Shift, T - Creates a checkbox and then I write the task.
At the end of the week, I copy over the list and remove everything I've done and keep the ones I still plan on doing, but I've procrastinated on.
1. Pen and paper for daily tasks.
2. A desktop app I wrote for personal use that helps me track intermittent tasks / projects. It's more geared toward tracking train of thought than tasks, though.
Sincs nicely with my Windows Phone.
$ t ls/p # list or list by priority sort
$ t add 'Something to do +Project @Tag' # add a new item with +Project or @Context categorization
$ t [Num] p B # give priority 'B' to the TODO listing
$ t rm [Num] # remove some item in the list