My TODO Way

After reading Restrictions, two readers asked me a similar question about how I work with my tasks and todo lists. I thought maybe it would be a good post, so here’s the short answer I gave them.

I’m using a very simple tool to handle my tasks. This tool is so restrictive and minimal, it has simplified my task management exponentially. There are no projects to manage, no folders or due dates, or even a GUI with buttons to click. This application lives on the terminal and it shows me what I need to do. That’s it.

There are some colors and cues as to what tasks are in flight right now, and what’s next, but all in all it’s just a simple list.

I settled on having two to three tasks to work per day, more than that and I will not be able to complete them. Why? Because my job has a lot of constant distractions and people coming to get me for help. Two to three is the number where I know that, even with distractions, I will be able to complete. And if those tasks are too big, I divide them into smaller sub-tasks so I can finish them in a session.

I work with this app as follow:

1. I add the tasks I need to complete to the app every day. No priorities
2. When I’m done adding, either early in the morning or throughout the day when I might add a new task, I look at the list and prioritize what I need to do now. That’s marked as “Today”. I also reprioritize past tasks or remove them completely - if they have been there for more than three days, then they are not that important and they are gone
3. I filter the two or three tasks set as priorities for the day and leave them in the screen
4. When I’m done, I remove the task. If I couldn’t complete it, it becomes the first task for the next day

I live in this view, the tasks for the day.

No complications. I rather just do the tasks than spend time managing my tasks.

By forcing a restriction, I have made my tasks “management” a non issue.