I am not a fan of Emacs whatsoever (I find it a buggy mess where everything works only 80%), but org mode is absolutely fantastic for this.

I use Microsoft TODO as a reminder and to not lose thoughts, but I primarly use text files to organise work backlog.

Spreadsheet programs such as LibreOffice are the next level. These are the most advanced and easily customized text files yet. Think of these as multidimensional text files that are all connected in an endless grid. Text files may seem ok, but managing tens of thousands of pages across sheets and books seems more straightforward with the spreadsheet format. But Vim is a great fallback when sheets are overkill.

tl;dr

Ready to ditch the productivity app hamster wheel? Do this:

    Create a file called todo.txt
    Write down what you need to do tomorrow
    Do those things
    Add notes as you work
    Start a new date section when needed

I've used a TODO.md for years. I prefer it to a .txt as I can get some syntax highlighting in Vim.

About a year ago I merged my TODO with my work journal. So now, instead of two files I just have LOG.md with the TODO stuff at the top, a horizonal line and the journal of what I've been doing each day below.

I also copy the file (e.g. LOG-2024.md) each year and clear out the journal to keep the number of lines down.

For short-term (next few days), TODO.txt on my desktop is superior to every fancy solution I've tried.

For longer term stuff/backburner items, I use Google tasks.

I made my own. I needed to have a calendar that showed every todo item per day, and a text editor to edit the tasks just like in a todo.txt. Used it all day every day for over 15 years. I still have it installed on nearly all my Win systems, just because it opens instantly, has priority and colors. I also used it to produce reports for work, so I eventually added export options for HTML to paste directly into an email.

https://github.com/DexterLagan/todo-master

I just use Google Keep Note as my todo app. You don't need anything complex than that. I call my notes as DeathNotes where tasks go to die i.e. finish.

I've always liked https://www.taskpaper.com/

It's one step up from a single txt file. You only need to use one text file with it. It's like a nice UI for a single todo text file.

I use Todoist in a very light weight fashion. I add tasks and they sit on my screen until they're done, basically identical to a text file. I've never used the points, projects, labels, etc.

It does one thing a text file struggles at: scheduling recurring tasks and adding notes to a recurring task. I have annual reminders for infrequent, but important stuff. For example, I have a recurring annual task to review my insurance. Each year, I add context and details that are easily forgotten. Then, when the reminder comes up next year, I can refresh my memory and complete the task quickly.

I use a TODO.md within Obsidian, synced across devices with SyncThing. That's the sweet spot

I have a "never-ending .txt file" too. About 4100 pages' worth, at the moment, across 25 volumes and counting, over the span of now nearly eight years.

I don't intend particularly to advocate the format here, but I will say that of all my many bookshelves, in a certain way there's none I find more satisfying than the one I work to fill myself. Is that worth more than being able to use grep(1) on their contents? Or are those contents worth more to me because I can't? Who could say, but it's fun to think about, at least. (And for those young enough to be easily swayed by vanity, if you think performative reading is in fashion right now...)

I built a simple app a while ago to learn programming and it works for me

https://Simpletaskmanager.vercel.app

All the info is locally hosted.

Amazing. It doesn't surprise me that the most simple workflows are the ones that work best. Probably because there is not a lot of resistance (keyboard shortcut instead of searching through a list of apps / no tutorial on how to use it; it's just a text file / it's easily readable and you get to choose the formatting and structure of your text).

As a developer, however, I have to scratch the itch of always having "wrangleable" data, and yet again text files are the best at it. I am already thinking of doing this and just follow a set of writing "guidelines" so I can parse the txt if I wanted to do some visualization stuff.

Use a single .txt file for a todo list and set up a cron job to do a git commit on it every 5 min. This way you have some history if needed.

Org-mode is life changing, check it out.

I went through something similar. I do use Logseq now, but for many, many years I found a notes.txt or todo.txt file in my home directory to be an excellent solution. I typically just write the date at the top of the file and put the notes underneath. A huge benefit is that I can trivially keep these under git. I keep them in my dotfiles repo so they can be easily synchronized to all my devices. A couple of shortcuts makes it quite fluid:

A bash alias so I can run `todo` and have the file open:

    alias todo='nvim "$HOME/.todo.txt"'

Some vim config so I can run `\date` (from either insert mode or normal mode) and it will print a date line for me:

    inoremap <Leader>date <C-r>=trim(system('date "+%a %B %e, %Y %H:%M:%S %p"'))<CR>                                                                                                                                                              
    nnoremap <Leader>date :put=trim(system('date \"+%a %B %e, %Y %H:%M:%S %p\"'))<CR><ESC>

things 3 is fantastic and access to it is an actual factor in what devices i buy

MS Onenote? I have a page called "todo" but it never really took off. I suppose if the lesson here is "extreme simplification", then MS Onenote--> todo.txt represents an improvement.

I've had a plain TODO.txt file for over 20 years so I agree with all the benefits the author mentioned. However, I don't like it because without an app, there's no runtime loop to notify and alert me of what's coming up.

This means I don't have "ambient awareness" of what's going on unless... I open the TODO.txt file ... manually scan it... then rescan it again and again multiple times per day. It's really tedious and inefficient to manually re-read the same items again. Offloading repetition like that is what computers are good for. I just don't have a good app at the moment to turn my TODO.txt into something I don't have to manually eyeball all the time.

So even though I have a tasks in my TODO.txt, a lot of things still falls through the cracks because I forget I need to do them.

If you have the type of brain that has a built-in "6th sense" of tasks that need to get done, a lightweight-no-runtime TODO.TXT will work fine for you. But it's definitely inadequate for me and I need to fix that.

EDIT replies to "use calendar for reminders" : Yes, that's a workaround but I've resisted doing that because I wanted the utopia of my TODO.TXT file being the Single-Source-Of-Truth instead of manually copying items to Google Calendar. (Yes, I know that "perfection is the enemy of the good" and all that.) The way other people do it is they make Google Calendar itself the SSOT. But that defeats the purpose of the freeform flexibility of the TODO.TXT that has all the notes, etc in addition to tasks.

I want my TODO.TXT to be a unified view of everything I want to do in life and splitting some items off into Google Calendar is just more digital housekeeping I wanted to avoid.

The way I'd prefer to use Google Calendar is via the developer API to programmatically add entries that's based off of my TODO.TXT. E.g. : (https://developers.google.com/workspace/calendar/api/guides/create-events)

... but that requires an active runtime loop ... like a Python script constantly scanning my TODO.TXT and then automatically populating the Google Calendar. I just haven't gotten around to coding that yet. Yes, the irony is that meta-task to enhance my TODO.txt is already in my TODO.txt.

Zim is actually exactly what you need. Txt files created with a really simple possibility of mark down like style added.

I’ve never found a productivity tool/to-do list app I use more than just sending myself a barely comprehensible email.

This flies a bit in the face of the author's "The sync breaks. The company sells out and dies" point and the simple beauty of a text file. I find that Obsidian.md is just one step above a text file.

Simple daily notes, which are automatically organized into year and month folders. (Tip: Set the date format to YYYY/YYYY-MM/YYYY-MM-DD)

The Sync feature works great, but no reason you couldn't do this with just git on your own.

Plenty of built-in features (Plugins, ToDos, etc...)

Cross platform apps.

Markdown

Free. The sync feature is $4/month. Worth it for me.

They also have a one-time $25 payment to get early access to beta versions and a VIP discord channel.

Yep. I lost all my notes to a proprietary format back in 2004. I've been 100% a notes.txt person ever since and it's never failed me nor been not enough.

I don't know what people are talking about not having notification or not being aware. Just make a habit of looking at it and put important stuff near the top with attention grabbing characters by it.

I've built Wren (https://github.com/bjesus/wren) with a pretty similar idea of simplicity in mind — a task is just a file — but, it can also be whatever kind of file you want:

1. Drag an email to ~/Notes and it's a task

2. touch ~/Notes/get\ milk and it's a task

3. ln -s ~/Documents/something-i-need-to-finish-writing.doc ~/Notes/complete\ writing and it's task

Wren doesn't care about the format.

I use TickTick.

I saw the author tried it but didn’t actually write about it under “What Actually Happened With Each App”

I use TickTick over Todoist and other apps because it’s basically a .txt file dump for me, but with notifications and reoccurring tasks /shrug

I gave up on to-do apps as well. I have a text file I started in 2017. It's on my desktop and always open in a text editor. I just add the following at the top for a new entry:

20250811 - Core API - deploy to production 20250810 - Customer X - call about upgrading to new version

Every day I move items I have not yet done to the top of the list. Order in the list is the priority.

Old or done tasks naturally fall down the list.

For personal stuff I ended up with https://mytasksapp.com/

It's simple enough for me to understand but has the following features I want:

nice simple UI where I can add stuff without too many clicks

syncs between phone and browser (requires $1.49/mo which I'm fine with)

Can make multiple lists

Can drag items around in the list

Can add a longer description and reminders

For tech side projects I use GitHub issues as TODO/wish lists

For work I use a Google Doc to plan out the days tasks and meetings (similar to todo.txt). Google docs is really nice for this because I can collapse headers to shorten yesterdays work and use checklists that I check off as the day passes. I can also scribble notes in a freeform fashion at the bottom. I dedicate a whole browser (Safari) just to this page so I can easily tab to it.

For work I use MSFT Todo for stuff I'd like to do "at some point when I get time" (it's approved by my company, unlike my personal Todo app)

This. Working with plain notes during the last 10 years and it could not be better.

There is a format called todo.txt that works follows very readable syntax (like your own example) and has some minimal bells and whistles if you want it to: http://todotxt.org/

As an alternative: I started using org-mode 5 years ago and have never looked back. This is my workflow (https://karelvo.com/blog/orgmode) although I sync it via Git now, and have an iPhone where I use Plain Org (https://xenodium.com/plain-org-for-ios).

A bit hyperbolic. He tried very few Todo applications.

No org mode? No Taskwarrior? Both are apps backed by plain text.

For work I use Logseq, but I treat it like a .txt file. 90% of my use is the daily journal pages, adding NOW and LATER todos, notes, whatever. The ability to link nodes to other pages or nodes is just good enough to beat out a .txt.

For my personal life I use Things 4. I bought the Mac and iOS versions. Despite the steep price for the Mac version, I think it's worth it. I appreciate how the app is organized. I like that the "Inbox" dumping ground is totally separate from the "Today" queue, that it pulls in calendar events to the Today queue, and the differentiation of Anytime vs Someday. I would forget to check it too, if I hadn't placed a large widget right on my Home Screen. It's the first thing I see any time I unlock my phone, it helps a lot.

I am also an avid user of post-it notes. I like to keep a stack of them on my desk. These are for things I need to complete _today_, if not _up next_. This is how I stay focused when I'm in deep work. "add test for new sort fn", "better name for site/tenant var", "need new fixture for sortables", that kind of thing. When I leave my desk I should have no sticky notes on it, whatever left ends up in Logseq.

congratulations on the sane side

i use whatever notes app my phone has and sync that on my laptop. Sometimes my email apps have that feature.

I use todo.txt on steroids. In fact, the file is called todo.org and is best used in Emacs' org-mode, which does the best of all worlds for decades now. I can have a plain ASCII todo list and some algorithmic magic that understands it, if I want that.

This is a concept I tried to sell many years ago, it is not available, but I still use it and believe this is the most flexibility in todo list. Will be happy for feedback

https://youtu.be/RBBPbIkgWUU?si=S_JoNr4FLbqPMo5D

Similar experience here, except I'm using the built in notes app on my phone and keep nothing more than a list. When I used various todo apps, I felt as if I was fighting against them.

I'm a fan of Org Mode with Emacs [0] and using the app BeOrg [1] on my iPhone.

I have 3 main task files:

- todo.org for things I need to do

- backlog.org for things that I don't have to do now but should do in the future

- inbox.org for any random ideas or notes

The concept of an Inbox was taken straight from Getting Things Done [2].

I have different searches set up in BeOrg so that it is easy to view tasks from each different file.

This is definitely more complicated than a single file, but I like it mainly because it keeps my main task file (todo.org) organized. I also don't go through organizing my files that much either.

inbox.org is just a great place to dump anything, so I usually do a quick scan and either delete everything or refine it to the backlog.org.

For backlog.org, I'll usually just let things sit there and build up. After a while I'll realize that if something has been there for a long time, it probably isn't worth doing - or I already did it, so I delete it.

[0]: https://orgmode.org/

[1]: https://www.beorgapp.com/

[2]: https://hamberg.no/gtd

Another way to solve this is to use Fossil. Fossil has a built-in wiki. You can launch Fossil UI and use the built-in wiki with Markdown. Have legacy txt files? Just open a new fossil project and add them to it. And if you set up the admin and user correctly, you can mirror your notes to GitHub. So, it's not that text files are not a good option. There are many vastly superior options with almost no effort.

I love this article. The magic of todos is that it's really about the process, not the apps. An app can facilitate the process, but it's not required. I personally use Things and an ongoing Google doc. It requires me to copy between them every day, but I find that forces me to do the process of prioritizing and paring down, which is the magic part. A text file would work as well.

There are a few things I wish I could magically add to the text doc, though, like inline alarms and calendar events.

Obsidian + folders (done, wip, todo, trash) + one file per task (and all details and notes inside each file). That's been really good for me.

I’d need markdown otherwise I’ll just use a small notebook

After using Evernote for 10 years and seeing what they did to it, I'm never switching from plain txt/md files for notes and todos. For simple and daily todos, I just use iPhone notes (They don't have anything long-term or important, and the sync is nice).

For the rest, I just use plain files that are encrypted locally and stored on GitHub and Google Drive.

The pinnacle of notes and task lists was achieved in 1997 by the Palm Pilot. It’s been downhill ever since. I realize some people need or want something more integrated and elegant, but simple really does suffice for the vast majority of cases.

My journey has been identical, and I have a suspicion that this inability to use an app with bells and whistles might have something to do with ADHD.

I actually ended up making an app as a side project which is just todo.txt with one extra feature: if you start a line with a "!", it turns that line to a push notification on your lock screen. just keeps the important things in your list just a bit closer to awareness without overwhelming

https://www.whatistoday.net/2024/06/scratch-paper-minimal-mobile-notes-app.html?m=1

After trying text files and other apps, I wrote my own about ten years ago and have been using it ever since. ( https://famplan.io - I'm starting to turn it into something other people might use.)

I tend to agree with the idea that simpler is better, but a single text file wasn't quite enough. I like being able to see my lists on multiple devices, I tend to like to have multiple lists for different purposes, and it's also very useful to have shared lists for coordinating with my family and others.

The experience of using this has taught me a few things about how to use these lists effectively:

1. Using a list is like writing a journal - you need to be intentional about explicitly working to make it part of your routine. (Part of this is committing to record tasks that need to be done and then committing in some explicit way to actually doing those things.)

2. It needs to be fast, it needs to be easy, and it needs to be present. Anything else gets in the way of point 1.

3. It's important to track when you need/want to do, but lists of things to do can be overwhelming. (It's useful to have at least a few ways to ignore items when you can't or don't want to deal with them. I handle this by having multiple lists, and also having a snooze feature to ignore items for a while.)

4. You need to have a way to handle items or tasks that go on for a while. (You need to make a call, but have to leave a message, and are waiting for a callback... etc. These are places where you need to take action to push something along, but the action doesn't result in a complete task, so you need to revisit it later.)

This is going to sound odd coming from someone who wrote a tool for the purpose, but the key here is really to pick a system (any system) and then actually use it. Spend too much time developing the system, then all you've done is give yourself something else to do.

I use a self-hosting Baïkal CalDAV server with Tasks.org (https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.tasks/ ). The advantage of this is that it works with email clients.

same

I do this too, but with a text file per day.

I have my 3 favourite bindings from vimwiki in my config and have used this 'system' for years without any problems.

    <leader>ww         = go to diary home
    <leader>w<leader>w = go to today
    <leader>w<leader>d = go to list of days

https://github.com/peteryates/dotfiles/blob/master/nvim/.config/nvim/lua/wiki.lua

I strongly believe using just a plain text files or overly basic tools makes your life more complicated, not less. I get a tonne of value out of OmniFocus

> “But what about mobile?” - The file syncs through Dropbox

Yup now you have to handle conflicts, or keep in mind which device you last edited on

> I use my calendar for time-specific stuff

Cool, the app I use just has a due date field that reminds me. I don't want the thing spread out over multiple places. I don't need to check my calendar every night for due dates and then add them to my list because it's already.. in my list.. with due dates..

> It’s searchable

Kind of? For basic searches I guess.. and only on a computer. Searching plain text files on mobile is hell

They seem to be inventing problems and then implementing a solution that doesn't actually solve them. Kept forgetting to check Things? How does a plain text file solve that?

shameless plug: I also got fed up with todo apps (and note-taking apps in general), so I built "Zettel"[1]. It's a simple piece of paper, but on your phone. It's amazing what you can get done with such a simple tool.

[1]: https://github.com/AlexW00/Zettel

One useful addition for text file users: on Windows, create hotkey\macro timestamps using something like Autohotkey (https://autohotkey.com/)

3 letter hotkeys seem to work well - long enough to be unique without overlapping real words.

for instance, when I type ddd it automatically stamps this:

20250811 10:57 AM

then I type my note and can look back at what time\date it was.

sometimes I just need the date so that is dds (date-date-short) which gives

20250811

occasionally I just want the time so that's ttt

11:02:02 AM

I have many other 3 letter codes using Autohotkey to bring in frequently typed things too, useful in emails and such.

Since I think through typing, autohotkey has been a QoL helper.

My favorite todo app is "NotePlan.co" which actually uses .txt files for its data storage. The file is synced on icloud and can be used on iOS and mac OS apps.

I started using a text todo list at work just last February. I'd tried various things over the years and this has been the best so far. It's a combination of things to do, a record of what has been done since I started, in some cases a filling in of historical important things that have happened, and as a simple way of keeping track of different steps of individual processes, or individual items that need the same fix.

The top part is the todo list and the bottom portion is a list of days and what was done beneath each.

Everyone thinks I’m crazy for saying this, but I like Microsoft ToDo. And I’ve tried dozens of them. I’ve been using the Microsoft one for the past two years every day.

I had Claude Sonnet make me a text-based notes/todo app.

I write all of my notes in plain text, but I can add things like:

#Note: title

This is a note

--

And the text editor will highlight the note and show it in another window that shows all notes.

I can edit this in any standard text editor if I'm on a device without my custom app.

I can also convert them into sticky notes that are each "always on top" windows that can be dragged/dropped to set their position.

The notes also have tags for background color, border color, font color, due by, etc... that are all set in the text. When shown as sticky notes or in the note list, markdown content can be rendered.

Using text for the raw content and having a tool that will parse and display the content in a way that works for me has really made for a great note taking experience.

yeah, this is basically all i use Obsidian for...

A daily note, with a bunch of checkbox items

theres a plugin that automatically rolls every unchecked item into the next day's daily note.

these two features fulfill 99% of my 'todo list' needs.

Reading through the comments under this thread, there are many users who swear by a plain text file, but who then build quite a lot of snowflake software to regain functionality offered by more structured TODO applications. That includes:

- having your computer alert you to things that come up

- being able to tag notes

- being able to add events to a calendar

- being able to set priority of tasks

- expecting prioritized/currently relevant tasks to be at the top of the agenda

- being able to add recurring tasks

- full-text search (grepping)

- formatting features (markdown)

Some of the laborious (or, in my opinion, plain unholy) solutions include:

- feeding TODOs to an LLM to filter for the currently relevant ones and send Telegram notifications

- hand-copying currently relevant tasks to the top of the TODO list

- running a script on a VPS to sync notifications

- set up cron job with git commit

- writing post-it notes by hand

I would encourage everyone to try out emacs with org-mode. It takes some time to get used to the editor and its keybindings (though provisions exist for vim users), but _every_ item on the list above is handled out of the box, or is offered through a free and maintained plugin.

The author of the OP claims to have tried _every_ todo app, and has afterwards moved (regressed?) to writing notes in a plain text file, but there is a path extending from this point that the author has not walked yet. I strongly suggest that, especially for people with a computing or technical background, it is an undisputed upgrade. https://doc.norang.ca/org-mode.html being the bible, of course.

That's exactly my workflow but I use markdown txt file, and use vim + macros for auto inserting a new entry with date or marking things done. Plus some custom syntax highlighting for done tasks.

This certainly doesn't apply to all cases, and version control / history is very complicated, but I use a notepad and a felt tip pen and I just couldn't use anything else to keep track of my TODOs for the day! It has been my goto ever since my first job, and it's never failed me!

Sounds to me like you need something simple and quick. If the current system works for you I would suggest to keep using it. If you ever feel like you need something better I would recommend trying microsoft todo or google tasks. Google Tasks syncs with your google calendar so it's a bit more powerful. Apart from them both a pretty simple. If you are looking for something even simpler take a look at google keep. This is what I use personally.

The problem with productivity apps is that one size does not fit all. Everyone has radically different goals, constraints, interests, and workflows. Many people would benefit from having a "living" app that is personalized to their tastes, and also adapts over time as the characteristics of your life change (e.g. having kids is probably going to change your approach to productivity!)

I recommend finding a framework within which to build your own apps, and then building your own suite of apps that have exactly the features you want (shameless plug, I built a platform that can serve as such a framework : WebWidgets.io. It is basically a way to hook up SQLite databases to JS objects in the browser, which allows wide liberty to build your own simple custom apps).

Then, finally you reach the last layer: a 4" x 6" notepad and pen that are always kept at your desk

I suppose I'm boring and already in the Apple ecosystem, but Notes app has checkbox and indent support, works between laptop and phone nicely. Just works

For me it's still Trello. I used to have a .txt file, and once went back to it. But somehow, having these task cards is easier for me.

I use a pretty similar setup. At the beginning of my day when I get to my desk at work I open a new .txt and enter all the tasks I'm currently working on (copied from the last day). I then mark them as completed or leave notes as needed. Works perfectly for me - no need for anything more fancy.

Markdown with Obsidian is a good mix. Let's you add context and you could figure a way to sync with phone from my 2nd hand lenovo running linux to view; code snippets, documents, media, graphs, ...all due to the - in my own view the universal document format.

I am a tech creative so I am okay with this vice. Trying to finetune the above setup btw.

└── Dey well

"It's mine, no company can kill it"

+ it's low friction, no special knowledge, no special tools, works offline is what does it for me.

Of course we use something bulkier at work, but for my own personal TODO I keep a .txt file, and It Just Works (tm).

Shameless plug of my journey of logging diary/todos:

I had tried a diary script that does the simple act of opening today's diary in vim: https://github.com/Aperocky/diaryman

Once things became overwhelming, it was less trackable across time and became messy - so I created tascli: https://crates.io/crates/tascli to centrally manage tasks and records with sqlite in a CLI app.

Think I'm in a sweet spot now having both of these minimal version logging - the lack of functionality is exactly why they are great.

k

I guess the more organised you are, the better off with just a textfile. I'm not, so I use layers: - postit notes - google (I know!) calendar if it's time sensitive - paper or text file notes - if it's a longer thing, maybe obsidian (I know!)

The point is, I don't think one app, any app can solve all mankind's all scheduling problems.

This is the way. Markdown does improve it a bit, though!

Markdown on Obsidian is a prestine setup. Can be used to embed many file types; media, documents, code snippets, graphs, ... all this can be linked and this unlocks so much context. Being able to sync that; My 2nd hand Lenovo running Linux and my Samsung S20 Phone.

I am a tech creative and this is one of my vice. Having a todo is an opportunity to go through your experiences for clarity.

└── Dev well

I went through the same process and now use a text file, or more accurately, I use a "canvas" in slack which is essentially a free-form text page with Markdown formatting (including check boxes that I can check). I make one page per month, with H1 headings for each day.

The reason I use this in Slack is that I already have Slack open all day and don't want to have YetAnotherWindowOpen. Also, I get sync between computers/devices for free.

This is just for the work I need to do that day. Otherwise we have YouTrack tickets; any meetings I set in Google Calendar.

Legit. Especially with the rise of LLM.

But I use .md files stored in a private git.

The only thing that ever really worked for me is taskwarrior.org. It is super easy to get started and can be made more sophisticated as you. I live in the terminal most of the time anyway so that makes it a natural fit.

Shameless plug: I built [1] and use a small magit like interface on top of org-mode.

I love org for all its bells and whistles and use them in various ways. But most of the time I need a small subset of org in a form-factor that allows ease of use.

[1] https://github.com/ChanderG/toodoo.el

I swear by Mindmapping Applications (e.g. Xmind, Mindmanager) - one file every month (extractable with a python library for LLM evaluation).

One top-level branch is a prioritized Inbox with a Pending branch at the top (Item half-completed, but awaits external action, e.g. an order has to arrive).

One top-level branch with Done, which is a folder with a branch for each week, then day, where I dump completed items into

One top-level branch for ongoing subscriptions with alerts

Collapsed top-level branches for Hobbies and Family Ideas and things-to-do

With xmind, you can easily tag the task progress of each item.

Took me 8 years, including a really beautiful Android ToDo Concept which I build and ended up abandoning :D

I would take this more seriously if the title were: > I tried every todo app and ended up with a .md file

I use Apple's native Notes.app

It is easy to create text with checkbox you can click on, and on macbook you can type fn + Q to open the floating Notes window, or use hot corners. It is automatically available on your iPhone as well, since it syncs.

I write them on my hand

Same, but my text files are .md and synched for free between mobile/workstantion using Joplin + OneDrive.

This is what I do with my "Daily Brain Dump". I use Apple Notes bc it syncs up nicely with my phone. Every day I add a new entry to the top of the note. Mix of TODO's and a journal. Actually have two files, one for my life in general and one for work.

A txt (rtf in my case) is a notebook that doesn't get messy. Deepest parts go back to 2007. Cell phone alarm for reminders, also acts as a clotting agent for time. After you do what the alarm is for you have choice of setting alarm again or proceeding into the next item.

ToDo apps are a perfect example of coming up with solutions for a non-existent problem. Most of the tech solutions fall into this category.

When the consumer gets to take a hard look at their needs and gives a thrashing for sales pitch and doesn't give a damn to peer pressure, and demands for a bare-bones functional solutions only for their real and immediate needs, 90% of these solutions vanish into thin air.

You should try org-mode

To be honest, I have never understood the TODO "industry." Do people really have so many things to do, and is it really that difficult to keep track of them all? I do not know if it's just me but I feel completely alienated by these apps and articles.

Reinventing the plan file!

I mostly do this too for personal stuff. Although on solo projects I have a neverending TODO.md I check in...

...and on multi-person projects I end up using github issues/projects and/or Forgejo's equivalent

I’ve always circled back to a shirt-pocket sized spiral notebook. A7 size, I think.

Productivity really doesn’t need “solving”.

The problem is procrastination.

It’s quite ironic the amount of time people sink into these productivity methods and apps. Almost like it was yet another form of procrastination…

sigh

I've done the text file thing, and it’s fine. Up to a (very small) point.

What the author describes as their “workload” barely registers.

For context, for me, Things on any given day has over 100 individual actions, most of which are recurring.

By doing this, I can stay on top of an extremely broad surface area. There is no way a text file can handle the number of parallel work streams my (or really many) people have.

Broadly, for me these work stream are:

* Self Care

* Relationship

* Children

  * Special Needs (IEP, SSI, Conservatorship, GGRC, Medical, Special Needs Trust, etc)

* Friends

* Professional (BD, etc)

* Investments (Real Estate, Angel Investments, SEP, etc)

* Legal (LLCs, Litigation, Wills, etc)

* Financial (Quarterly and Annual Taxes in 2 countries, Insurance, etc)

* Home (Massive)

* Hobbies

* Vehicles

Without a serious amount of structure in the form of my todo system, there’s no way a person could manage this - certainly not with a text file.

Calendars very rapidly fall down for scheduled tasks that you can’t knock out the day of, they lack reminder functions, etc.

Did you try todoman (which I wrote, like a decade ago)?

It stores todos in icalendar files, so it’s easy to sync onto a CalDav server and onto your phone.

Like the simplicity ... but this would never work for me ... I literally have thousands of tasks and ideas and notes and possible tasks and checklists and ...

The key is being able to filter all of your tasks down quickly to what's essential today. No way in hell I can visual-scan everything that's important to me.

Yes, oh yes, it's so refreshing. You have got 217 points but you deserve more. One million. Let's not engineer things that don't need it.

New todo apps have absolutely amazing UIs because people think the frustration of todo apps has to do with the UI. The thing is YOU WANT FRICTION in your todo app. There is something rewarding and satisfying about a UX where you've accomplished a task and you get to check it off.

The perceived holy grail of todo apps is the one that automatically creates tasks and then checks them off when we complete the task with zero interaction. This is wrong.

I have an alias called "notes" which opens a file called "notes" where I write everything, including upcoming todos.

I never look back more than a day or two worth of notes.

I host my own wall calendar. There is an annual subscription cost, but it's so cheap I don't notice. I hacked it together with thumbtack 1.0 and Bic Crystal a very long time ago. Others have used it and find the interface extremely intuitive. Localization is supported. I even have pencil support. If things become tentative, we can switch over to it seamlessly. When I have a todo item, I input it onto the day and time that works best. Highly recommended.

I'd be happy if I could define my own notification system on top of a text file tbh.

I can't tell you how many times I would have forgotten something if I had not made it a timestamped reminder.

That said, most apps all suck in various ways. So I feel the urge to just use text.

I'm currently using Reminders.app (the default on iOS) and it's nice that it's somewhat lightweight. But organizing things is clunky and the experience feels flimsy.

All throughout college I used Trello, and frankly it was better that way. I should go back, except every time I log in something new is different and I don't like change.

If you live in VS Code there is a notes plugin that lets you create and manage Markdown notes in the sidebar. I usually create one note per repo and then pin the tab in that repo. If you work on a lot of projects it is a great way to segregate your todos by project so you don’t get overloaded. I also have a todo folder that has multiple notes pinned (today, scratchpad and long term notes) that I keep open in my main workspace window. It works for me, YMMV.

Is this a joke?

    AI helps but isn’t needed: With Cursor/Claude Code or Neovim + Supermaven, I can write my entire day’s schedule in 5 minutes. The AI completes my sentences, predicts meeting times, memorizes how I write tasks.

I’ve been using a text file for years.

I wanted to make my own todo app. One thing that I would want is to reorder things, group and rank them etc.

For example, in my text file I usually put the number of minutes or hours something would take, and then order things by easiest first, to get things done. That way I have less things to carry over for the next day.

I also found that if I keep procrastinating on important but long things, it probably means I need to hire someone, or partner with someone, who is better than me in that thing. I don't believe in pushing myself more than I already am, or optimizing personal productivity, I think it's actually a sign that I need to work on recruiting people to a startup or join an existing project. I believe in optimizing the organization and its systems, not people.

I also do the text file thing. I use EditPad Pro. The only additional thing I've done is create syntax coloring in any file named 'tasks-*.txt'.

I added simple things like: - Color anything ending in a ? green, so when looking at a list of notes, so I know where the questions were. - Any line beginning with an all caps word is highlighted (e.g. TODO: ) - Any line ending in a : is highlighted light blue (e.g. title) - Any Line Containing "Error" is red

I do suppose I could be using Markdown, but I've had this going for 20 years now.

I currently have three editors open: nvim (because I've been using it since it was vi), VS Code (because that's what work mandates) and Emacs (for org mode only). Horses for courses, and all that.

my slightly next gen todo is a notebook on my remarkable. added features are sharing between devices, and since it's eink its a good paper like alternative to sticky-notes. For me beating procrastination can be more important than organizing many subtasks.

FWIW, i only use this for work todos and differentiate todo with calendar(paper calendar and dry erase board for home, outlook for work calendar)

Me personally I'm very satisfied by org-mode, but the main point is not org-mode itself but Emacs, or an integrated, end-user programmable environment. Org-agenda handle todos, but in the same notes I handle attachments, runnable live code, links to mails/threads, ... because of that and that's the point: we have a single brain, we need systems who are integrated as well.

Not a gazillion of independent apps lacking also unix CLI IPCs (only cut&paste), but a single integrate, moldable one. Modern software have ERPs as best integrated solution, Emacs is the most integrated one still alive and kicking, Smalltalk workstations and LispM was the best from the past.

Maybe in some more decades, a step at a time, we will be back at such evolutive levels...

I've came to a very similar conclusion. Productivity SaaS apps feel exciting to get started but eventually I've abandoned them all. I feel that many others have similar experiences but I'm not exactly sure why. Like the author, I too ended up with a plain text format (org-mode) and I've happily been on it for 7 years. Some questions that came to mind:

- Is it the artificial hype and promises around certain productivity apps (e.g. youtube notion promoters) that ultimately leave one disappointed?

- Does the productization of these apps make the companies feel compelled to change too much, thus alienating users? Is this why Apple notes has such a following, since it's not a monetized product of apple?

- Is the allure of plain text the fact that it doesn't change, analogous to something written on paper?

In my case, I ended up using a simple note in Apple Notes, for each month/quarter, having a collapsible day heading and just adding tasks there. Bold indicates a bit of a higher priority, and I can move things that I don't complete from previous days.

Somewhat similar situation here, but I use a .diff file:

! heading here

+ item to do here

- item completed here

the !+- prefixes auto-highlight/colorize in editors. I use Sublime Text.

I do a combined TODO + Log in pure text. So the stuff at the bottom of the list is todo, and the stop above is a log of stuff I've done. I do one list per year.

Suggestion for Android: Tasks — I’ve been using this (free) to-do list, planner and reminders app for probably more than ten years now, mostly as a shopping list app. Be aware that there are other apps with very similar names and icons.

https://mytasksapp.com/

cheers

I had the same problem and then built https://crom.ai/

—> htts://app.crom.ai/register

Side project - so don’t really actively market it, but it’s been my daily driver for over a year now

https://workflowy.com is the closest to a text file I've used and that's why I like it. It's like a text file that is synchronized between all your devices and lets you collapse nested bullet lists. That's enough for me.

I use obsidian with the tasklist plugin

I like the "dopamine hit" of changing a task from TODO to DONE that comes from colors. I use this very simple vim syntax file for that :)

syntax match TODOKey "TODO"

syntax match DONEKey "DONE"

syntax match BLCKKey "BLCK"

syntax match MAYBKey "MAYB"

syntax match Comment "\/\/.*$"

hi def link TODOKey DiagnosticWarn

hi def link DONEKey Type

hi def link BLCKKey DiagnosticError

hi def link MAYBKey Constant

hi def link Comment Comment

Too much organization never helps, I've learned this with both note taking and with todo apps.

My workflow with ticktick is largely based on having all my to-dos in one "next actions" list. Tags are the one feature I can't throw away though, most of my to-do lists is tagged with a project name. My day to day view of Ticktick is usually some tag

Todoist. Unaffiliated but love the product and believe they deserve a shotuout.

I tried a bunch of todo apps, task trackers etc and also tried a txt file. None of it really worked for me. I tried bullet journals, I couldn’t stick to it.

What did end up working for me is a clipboard with a sheet of paper that I replace every few days. I write my todo list on it and I cross done tasks off in red marker. I guess it’s kinda like the bullet journal but even more lite.

I just switched to printing my todo tasks on a receipt printer. I have an arduino connected to a receipt printer and a Python script that can send commands to the arduino to print tasks. Also just finished adding barcode scanning so the task gets printed with a barcode and I use an iOS Shortcut to mark the task as complete. Actually works so well! Having the tasks in physical form helps me stay more focused and scanning the barcode to mark a task as complete feels so satisfying. I have the code if anyone wants to delve into this but it does require arduino + receipt printer + a TTL to RS232 module, though! And BPA-free receipt paper if you are concerned about that.

The only note taking app I've been able to use is "Reflect" (https://reflect.app/) because it gives me a calendar view and allows linking with tags and backlinks. Plus it's encrypted and I can always export my notes.

The only downside is that it's only on OSX/IOS but the webapp is good enough for my use cases.

I made a dumb command-line tool that sends a 1-line email to my work email or to my personal email. The tool is in my PATH on 2 computers. I use paper when I'm not at my computer and I have small pen and small paper with me at all times. Occasionally I send texts to my email address. I'm considering giving this tool to my coworkers.

Same. I use Apple Notes. I have a few notes pinned (regular work, creative work, self-education, travel, chores). I write tasks. Break them up into small tasks with indents. Pick a task from the pool and execute. "Regular Work" tasks get priority. But if I'm not feeling it, I move to the other ones. Once I finish a task, I delete it/replace it with next steps. Nothing fancy. No formatting except for indentation. Been crushing it.

But I will add, there is no right way to do things in life in general. Experiment, and do what works for you.

I send an email to myself. Monday todo, Tuesday todo etc..

I find it most interesting that despite Notions appeal and fanbase, it continues to lead to failure of this function. I am one of those who has built not just one, but two two apps for this! But, for todo management, I still use a Notes file (.txt on iOS is hard). I suspect that the upcoming integration with AI/calendar in iOS 26 will make it less appealing to me however, because it will take away the control and simplicity of managing things myself manually.

you are forgetting the most goat/clutch better than .txt - pen on back of hand :) (being completely serious/earnest here. great article, read thru the whole thing. same experience, tho i do love things), but ultimately back to my tried true high school days, timeless, eternal: WRITE IT ON THE BACK OF YOUR HAND THEN WASH IT OFF

A few years back a friend approached me with an idea to track todos in Google Calendar directly by adding #todo to event titles. If you don't mark them as done they will roll forward to the next day. We ended up shutting it down as a product, but I recently vibe coded it back as a Google Apps Script so it's free to run on your own. It works super well for people who live off of their calendar - https://github.com/slackpad/hashtagtodo-redux.

I totally wrote my own TODO system. It's actually quite featureful, and it works as a command-line program that stores its data in a human-readable text file. And can produce graphs. Admittedly, it's more of a time-tracking system with an attached TODO list than anything else, and it doesn't pop up reminders for anything - I have an annoying calendar for that instead. Maybe one day I'll pop it on github and see if anyone else likes it.

I'm also a fan of the minimalist approach, having settled on a combination of Notes app and temporary paper lists. When I'm feeling overwhelmed and really need to knock out some tasks, nothing beats pencil and paper for me.

I recently came across the Analog product from Ugmonk and I love it. It's basically just a dedicated little wood holder for you desk, and different types of cards. I use the blank lined cards.

https://ugmonk.com/collections/analog

There was a curses-based todo program that was totally awesome MANY years ago, source code posted to usenet I believe back in the day, but I have never been able to find it again. Anyone have a pointer?

For short term tasks (task-cache) I have ended up with essentially the same thing, just using *.md file + Notepad++ because of markdown syntax highlighting + snappiness of Notepad++ and I can then see it as a webpage using Markdown Viewer extension on Firefox.

For structured documentation of my projects + searching + writing notes down on the go via phone I am using Joplin.

For tasks to be done on a specific date I have calendar

For project management I have Redmine behind VPN so I can get on it from anywhere.

On similar note, I tested every grocery list app and ended up with papers and pencil

I have a very simple todo list, it's essentially the same every day! - check mail - check calendar - check jira - check azure devops board - check Microsoft Tasks - check confluence - check Teams - check home calendar - check home e-mail - check signal - check whatsapp - check client e-mail - check client jira - renew prescription for benzos

Interesting here the author states

> Things 3: Beautiful. Expensive. Tricked me into thinking I had my life together. But I kept forgetting to check it.

Followed by

> The Secret Sauce… Checking the list regularly…

I have a draft of a similar post to this one about lists https://gist.github.com/breadchris/683202bffd4463e517335ab3f1c905be

In a typical todo list, I expect the following features (explained with examples of a typical school timetable:

What, When, Where, Who, Color, Some Notes, Completion checkmark.

1. Name of the event/task e.g. Chemistry

2. Day/Date/Time of the task (can either be specific weekdays or a specific date with time) e.g. Monday at 9:30am, Thursday at 4pm.

3. Person who the task will be with (professor name) e.g. John Doe

4. Location of task e.g. McKenzie Hall Room 504

5. Color e.g. red or hex code #FF0000

6. Some extra notes

7. Maybe ability to add checkmark before the task when it's done. This can be done using the unicode character.

We also need nested tasks (think Lab for Chemistry or some Assignment due for Chemistry). This can be done by adding tabs or hyphens before the line.

The format which works best is a text file containing:

-------------

Chemistry on Monday at 9:30am, Thursday at 4pm #green @McKenzie Hall Room 504 by John Doe //this comment can be a note

- Lab on Wednesday at 2pm by 8am #blue //don't forget to bring lab coat

- Assignment on Mar 9 at 8am #red

Dentist appointment on April 5 at 11am

/* Full block comment which is multiline. Lorem ipsum is placeholder text commonly used in the graphic, print, and publishing industries for previewing layouts and visual mockups. */

I've been back and forth on that topic, going to paper and back to a todo manager of some sort.

For the past few years I've been using obsidian for all my note taking, and none of the extensions I tried did what I wanted, so I built myself one[^1]. The initial goal was to take todos right within my notes, so I could keep the context of what the todo was about. Then I started adding stuff like planification and tagging. So it's entirely text based, but with a planner UI on top of it that makes it easy to drag and drop stuff to when I want to do them, and plan my day accordingly.

I think the more you go, the more you get set in your own ways, the harder it is to tag along on someone else's implementation of a system.

Low tech like paper and text files are good because they're maleable, and dont embed stuff you don't actually need.

^1: https://obsidian.md/plugins?id=proletarian-wizard

i like text files for day to day lists that are easily discarded. what am i trying to do for work today, who do i need to call, other reminders

for longer term planning i’ve found todoist to be indispensable. UI and features haven’t changed much in years, great cross platform, pretty enable to different styles of planning, etc

I believe todo apps run into the challenge that "to do" is way too broad a concept. Personally I track in-progress tasks (on a giant roll of paper), recurring and schedule tasks (especially where I coordinate with my spouse; on a dedicated Skylight smart-calendar), long term ideas and goals (as issues in a dedicated GitHub repo), meeting follow-ups (as .txt), groceries (on scrap paper), etc. The UX I want for each of these is quite different so I've never been able to make a generic todo app work. Worse, I'd hate to accidentally see my work list when I'm trying to do housework as I'm liable to start a side quest. So I need dedicated tools for each type of list.

Try as I might, the best to-do/task list I can come up with is a legal pad. Mixed with notes of the day for meetings or ad-hoc remembering-of-things.

Closest to that is a .txt file in my specific format, but even that is not quite as good.

The days/weeks I can maintain discipline with a legal pad are much more productive. It works well if you work out of an office or a single location, but breaks down quickly if you are moving around.

A notebook is a close second, just not quite as easy to go page through quickly to figure out wtf you were doing 3 weeks ago or find that one note you're pretty sure you have but not quite sure where or when.

I've tried pretty much every electronic form out there, but have never been able to maintain it. The Remarkable 2 comes the closest, but I've found it tends to be very much "write only" compared to a legal pad. Hard to go through it and reference past notes quickly.

Didn't try Workflowy though! (YC S10 and still not enshittified) (!!!)

Good man. Everyone eventually reaches the same year zero: a text file.

Then adds structure back, as it suits their persona. Not too much, not too little, just right - goldilocks. It's very personal, even more than a smartphone.

For me - $ githome add logBook to git $HOME solves versioning and replication:

giho() { (cd "$HOME" && git --git-dir="$HOME"/.githome/ --work-tree="$HOME" "$@";) } # prior must $ git init --bare $HOME/.githome

And in the logBook structure currently at:

1. Sections FIXME, TODO, DONE, DONTDO. Keep them vi searchable /^SECTION$.

2. Entry start searchable /^-(space).

3. Entry end separator from next is empty line searchable /^$.

4. New items add at the top, push old items down.

5. Items move wholesale, no change on between sections move.

6. Items spending too long in TODO moved into DONTDO.

7. No new items added in TODO if FIXME is not empty.

8. If really really need to add to TODO - then move blocking FIXME entries to TODO.

9. Above are rules of thumb - break them with a reason, don't break them without reasons.

I use typora which is a markdown edior with folder structure. And AI to make the checkable lists.

I record stuff I want to have around in TXT files, by week every week over 10 years. The files lived on OneDrive for a time, but now on my desktop, backed up daily. Advantage is I can search.

My to-do list was sticky notes forever, moved to new ones when the old was getting too worn out to read. Now it's Rite notebooks as needed.

I spent my 20s searching for the perfect todo solution but my search ended when I discovered org-mode. It's not that I'm the most productive person you'll meet, it's just that there's nothing further to look for. Should I decide to be my productive self for a while, I know org-mode will support me and not stand in my way :)

Oh, and I love the Denote package.

I use Apple Notes and Reminders for work.

- Reminders: I just have a few simple lists: TODO, WIP, and BLOCKED (for stuff I'm waiting on others for).

- Notes: I keep daily, weekly, and monthly notes. At the end of each day, I clean up my daily note and move anything important to the weekly one, and then do the same into monthly.

I actually built the app myself. And for one simple reason - recently started learning to better plan my time. Started with paper version, and up to 5 most important task - my personal goal is to have consistency rather than squeeze every minute of every day.

And paper version is great. However, the vacation came and I wasn't really keen on dragging the book everywhere. Additionally i noticed that while planning, I don't really respect my long term goals - so I build an app for that: Simple thing that does several thing: - 1. Keep only 5 slots for most important tasks. - 2. Have calendar view in the same view (like google tasks) to make sure that I havent' forgotten some important meeting - 3. (Unlike google tasks, or clickup) - have short-term and long term goals in the same view , to make sure that every important task is related to long term goal - Bonus: I see stats on how much of important tasks I have completed. Goal is at least 80% avg for 7 days. - Bonus2: I've added my values to make sure that these are not forgotten in other places.

So single view to address todays work and relate it to long term vision. But I believe it depend on what you're optimising for. Dumping things or makeing sure that signal to noise ratio is better.

I've cycled between a few low tech. solutions and have finally settled on Emacs org-mode. I don't use my phone to track TODOs and this works fine for me.

Other benefits of plain text notetaking: perfect versioning, using favorite text editor (therefore spell checking and various tools), amazing integration with unix programs, support on any platform/device.

Two shortcomings are: figure out cross-device sync (ssh/nfs are good options), reinventing the wheel for rich text (tags, references, data tables, etc.)

it's actualy simpler to text yourself a note and keep the "conversation" as a file would be nice if basic andriod allowed for a long press, and then create a file/document, like *** gasp*** a word processor

I've found that a lot of apps try to micromanage me, my workflow, or how I use my computer.

I've grown to appreciate using simple tools, (spreadsheet, document) without the structure of an app.

I manage my 10-house HOA with spreadsheets, because the tools cost so much that I'd have to raise HOA rates.

Shopping lists are on whatever document app I'm using. (Currently Word, used to be Google Drive, used to be iPhone notes.)

I've been using the Gmail webpage for tracking my TODOs for like 20 years. The idea being, since I always have the webpage open in the first tab of my browser, and since I'm checking the webpage at least once a day, I never forget it. Every time I check my emails I also see my TODOs. And I can check/edit it from my phone when I'm not at home.

If it's a list of TODOs for the current day or week (e.g. work tasks, watering the plants, etc) I just start a draft and keep the draft open in the UI and update it regularly, then delete it when everything is done. If it's more mid-long term (let's say TODOs for the month, like buying some big stuff, etc), I usually send it to myself with "TODO [3-4 words description]" in subject and keep it in the inbox to be visible until I completed it. If I need to add something else I just reply to the same email.

I think Gmail has actually an integrated TODO widget in its webpage, but I just use emails out of habit.

I also just began experimenting with plaintext. At the moment, I create regular apple reminders when I want to receive a notification, and for everything else I keep a markdown file `quicknotes-YYYYMM.md`, which I use also for some some throwaway notes.

Every month, I duplicate the file, remove what's been completed and the things I don't want to do anymore. The file is on iCloud Drive in the obsidian folder, so I can edit it also from my phone.

An example:

# TODO - [ ] todo ...

# NOTES

multiline note 1

---

multiline note 2

yeah...i have one neverending Evernote note...called "To do"

There is definitely something to be said for simple file formats augmented with tooling like LLMs and such. I am one of the people who also ended up writing my own todo list app. It really started as a journaling system, but it was super simple to add TODOs. I basically created my own clone of Logseq if anyone is familiar with that. I've basically got what the author has got, but I've automated the part where a fresh page is created each day, and a feature to quickly move undone TODOs to any day.

Ironically, I ignored Apple’s Reminders app as an options for years. It’s now my daily operating system. Lots of simple table-stakes features out of the box that elevate the experience above just using a simple Notes app

For personal, I've got the nirvana life plan. It's great, for work, it's TODO.txt on a network drive.

I have an always running session of Notepad++ with (currently) 356 tabs open. I can search through all of them if needed. This worked for me after also piloting several solutions.

The author's complaints about the various solutions hit home. My wife and I tried a bunch of solutions for shared tasks and lists. Finally I found vikunja, put it on my home cluster, and it's been a game changer. We never run out of milk due to a lack of communication, and I have no excuse to forget the chore she asked me to get around to last week.

There really is a sweet spot between helping productivity and overcomplicating life, and most of these applications go for the latter. Glad we finally found something that works for us. I'm just sharing here hoping it'll help someone else.

nvAlt must surely have been mentioned somewhere. It’s the best by far. Very simple markdown, searchable notes etc. there’s a new version in the works (and has been for some time) but the original is still great. The best thing is that the notes are just a folder of .txt files.

Don't use a ToDo list. Just put stuff on your calendar!

I just use a Kanban board for my to-do's, and it has been working amazingly well for years now. I sort stuff based on four columns, starting with the most important that should be done "today".

I love Markdown files with editors such as Obsidian or Logseq, but found them to be suboptimal for to-do's / tasks.

This is the best thing in a long time. Made me feel productive just by reading it. I've made my own list and plan to attack it diligently today. Most of the highly productive people I've made are just militant about

Haha. Been there, done that.

My journey has been like this: Wunderlist -> Microsoft acquired Wunderlist -> Any.DO -> Google Keep -> Todoist -> Trello -> ClickUp -> Obsidian -> todo.md file

(I am probably missing multiple.)

I still use Obsidian, but not as a Todo app, with absolute zero plugins. And Wunderlist remains the most tasteful todo app I have ever seen.

Now I just open up Alacritty and type in `vim todo.md`. It has today's date in H2, and tasks as checkboxes. That's it. Works better than anything else. Why . md over .txt? Because I like the syntax highlighting in vim.

My simple notes setup that I love since I live in ViM and TMux sessions

```.vimrc

map <leader>x :vs<cr>:e ~/Documents/notepad.txt<cr>

map <leader>X :vs<cr>:e ~/Documents/notes<cr>

map <leader>P :Files ~/Documents/notes<cr>

```

And that's pretty much it. I can pop open a long running file for temporary one offs, or pop open a directory with directories with files which all start with `01-`, `02-`,... to enforce order, with additions to a particular topic doing `01A-`, etc

And since I edit everything I work on in ViM, I have notes available in all my editors which have keyboard short cut quick jump navigation.

It keeps me very organized, can be set up anywhere with just a couple lines in the config file there, and only took me about a decade of steadily refining things down to get to

Next version, a pen and paper!

I had a similar journey, settled on a todo app that actually uses text files too https://www.taskpaper.com Save the text file to a cloud sync provider and you can check it on every device

Couldn't agree with this more! Obsidian is my go-to. I essentially do the same thing but make look a little better with Obsidian's markdown theming/formatting. I keep a Priorities.md file and review that at the start of each day, making needed updates as I go.

I've never found that emailing to a todo.txt file works very well. Seriously, though, if your only goal is to make a long list of things you don't want to forget, use a text file, paper, or any system you want. I get a boatload of things to do in my email. Forwarding the message to a task manager reduces a lot of stress.

Another thing for me is the ability to capture files or take pictures. I just can't do that with todo.txt in an efficient way. Being able to grab my phone and snap a picture or create a new task and upload a file is hard to beat. I can later come back and add some comments.

I prefer keeping everything in one file as well, since even the act of creating a new file is sometimes enough of a hassle for me to skip jotting something important down.

Question for fellow one-file'ers: what do you on mobile? My problem in the past was that all plain text editor apps on iOS open files at the top, which meant scrolling all the way down every time I opened my notes file.

These days I use NotePlan, but I don't really use enough of its features to justify continuing my subscription (the dev is really great though).

Shoutout to checkvist.com use them for years. Exactly enough bells and whistles.

It fits my brain of an endless deep list.

Have no affiliate with them apart from paying them each and every year.

The only feature I need that would accelerate my workflow that text file editors don't currently have is a column with the last modified timestamp of that particular line, and maybe some color indication to show which lines were modified the most recently compared to others. And this would be based on change, not based on save or commit.

My inbox is my todo list. If I want to go nuts I can add a “waiting for them” label. Archive means done. Unread means unprocessed. I can send myself an email or if the task originates from someone else their email thread is the task. For voicemail, call, SMS heavy workflows of the past I routed my sms and voicemail through my inbox as well. This tooling is very personal but the above I’ve found to standup to very large workloads.

I was also frustrated with the current app offerings, so I wrote my own. Feel free to try: https://checkoff.ai

I came to the same conclusion. Except I decided I could make a simpler software. I'm still in the "one more feature bro" phase, but if this blog post resonates for anyone and you're open to a simple saas -- would love feedback https://grugnotes.com

Real shame that CalDAV didn't dominate the way SSH/email/whatever dominates.

I use Todoist which is the only one that actually works IMO, kicks ass, but I wish it wasn't one someone else's backend.

I've tried so many todo apps and the only thing I've stuck to is Obsidian and a daily morning habit of checking my list (I check it multiple times a day, but I set at least one 'forced' point in the morning to level set.

I also use a notebook that often feeds that obsidian tab because I still often prefer to take notes/diagram by hand. The kinetic action sticks with me better.

Read this and you clearly want something like Obsidian.

Get obsidian and then set up - Syncthing for free open source syncing that doesn't go to any cloud, just replicates across your own devices

- You can just do a single markdown file instead of a single txt file if you really want to smoosh everything into one file (gross but you do you). markdown is portable and many software can render it easily, if they can't markdown is still readable raw plaintext

- But I would get some cool plugins like Periodic Notes and then set up either a Monthly or a Weekly periodic note. Basically the idea is the same as what you are doing, but instead of one lifetime markdown file, you split them up into monthly or weekly chunks. I do weekly (one note for each week), but its really your preference.

Now you get pretty rendering of your notes, generate sharable links to your notes, password protect them, all still free, open source, syncing, and portable (markdown plaintext)

I like that the author mentions making a post it and actually achieving all the stuff on the post-it.

I have a portable whiteboard on my desk, around the size of a sheet of printer paper. I use it only to write the things I want to accomplish today. I have found that very effective for me personally.

This blog post is wonderful and so accurately sums up my own journey through TODO productivity.

I've gone through this too and came to the same conclusion except for phone.

While on laptop/desktop nothing beats txt (or md or org), it's just so uncomfortable using a text file like that on the phone and relying on dropbox or something.

And I get it, all the note taking apps on the phone have issues: not local first, proprietary, subscriptions, or no encryption, or a thousand features before making sure the full text search works even offline.

Last year I finally sat down and wrote my own PWA out of frustration [1]. There was a SHOW HN too [2]. Yes, shameless plug. There are only a handful of other people using it (and probably never more than that) but I really wrote it for myself and it's been such a relief the past year knowing I always have my notes whenever wherever and works exactly the way I want.

I probably spent <5h fixing a few issues in the past year. As far as I'm concerned, my problem is solved once and for all.

[1] https://unforget.computing-den.com/demo

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40645743

why not use just a pen and a notebook then :) ?

>I’ve tried them all. Notion, Todoist, Things 3, OmniFocus, Asana, Trello, Any.do, TickTick.

There are hundreds of todo apps. Possibly 1000s. Including mine, which isn't mentioned. ;0) So all is something of an exaggeration.

I use Joplin. I made a little extension which generates a file with Monday's date and then the days + dates as headers.

On Monday I copy anything I still want from the previous week and then just jot down notes as I go.

---

# Monday - 11

# Tuesday - 12

# Wednesday - 13

# Thursday - 14

# Friday - 15

I respect using plain text for everything so kudos to OP. That said, I use Things by Cultured Code because I really like it. Does everything I want on my various computing devices.

I feel the pain of this, I use obsidian for my day to day note taking and tasks to do as a general plan, I push tasks from Slack into Trello inbox as people chat me things that I need to look into, I make reminders for myself while away from a computer on my iPhone via Siri.

Apple reminders has a kanban now that is actually pretty okay, but I dont have a great way to get things from slack into it - manually copying all the text/attachments/url is super annoying.

There is an app that syncs your reminders with an obsidian task list, but I ran into too many bugs with it resetting and taking too long to clean all the old shit up that just got archived due to not being required.

I could probably get away with a bunch of MCP servers that query my local reminders, trello, and obsidian daily notes, outlook calendar, gmail calendar.... but it feels like such a bad way of going about aggregating everything.

It's challenging. I struggle with the mismatch between work and personal in particular. They run both on different software stack and different cadence. On work side I'm constrained by whatever corporate thingie they give us, and on personal side I prefer selfhost FOSS...so fundamentally incompatible

No idea except knowing if I can crack this my life would be better

Every developer:

'Wow there are a 1000 of ToDo apps. I can't possibly try them all. So I will write my own ToDo app that does exactly what I want!'

Result:

There are now 1001 ToDo apps.

ToDo/productivity apps is a very tough market. I know because I wrote a visual task planner for Windows and Mac (hyperplan.com) and struggled to get enough visibility to make it commercially viable, despite a lot of rave feedback.

I was also dissatisfied with existing task tracking apps, and built my own:

t-do.com

There are still many rough edges, but it’s extremely useful. One of the best features that a text file has that very few apps support is unlimited sub-task nesting, and that’s a core feature of T-Do.

Funny coincidence, I just published an offline infinity-scroll notes app[0] today to replace my long txt file. Desktop version probably in a couple of days. Last time I published an app for myself, my friends (and ~1k others!) loved it so trying doing it again.

I've used a .txt pretty much my whole life from my old Vaio running Ubuntu to my Mac books after, especially as a heavy terminal/nano enjoyer. I always saved it as do.txt in my base dir. Thousands of lines which was always nice to look at and more importantly easy to reference links I used during debugging or troubleshooting from months ago. It's a weird mix of a bookmarking list, daily to dos and quickly jotting down phone numbers or details while on the phone with someone (if I'm not on my personal laptop, I usually type the thing while I'm on the phone in the PC browser address bar then copy it over which is not ideal because auto-search).

Another strategy I've used is iMessaging myself with links or notes, which in my opinion is the best way since it auto syncs AND you can pin yourself in the iMessage app for quick access.

[0] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/infinote-single-page-notes/id6749167745

Same experience, but ending up with .md, sync-ed on Nextcloud.

I follow something similar automated as:

  function todo

      vim "$HOME/<todo-directory>/"(date --date=$argv --iso-8601)

  end

So I can do.:

    $ todo          # opens the today file

    $ todo tomorrow #opens tomorrows file

    $ todo '<anything --date command accepts>'

And silver searcher for full text search.

If you sit in the browser most of the day, https://momentumdash.com

I can't imagine using a to-do app that isn't Obsidian+tasks. You can link notes for infinite subtasking and for describing/logging to your heart's desire. Just better version of txt

"Todo?"

I see that nobody mentions Howm for Emacs. I find it more simple than Org-mode and its task sorting algorithm just works well for my brain. I really recommend it to those interested in a zettlekasten like note system with integrated tasks, all in text files.

https://kaorahi.github.io/howm/

I think a more nuanced look at this is:

- he needs to get things done

- checks out some tools

- they don't enforce fundamentals

- he needs self-discipline to do fundamentsls

- uses least-common-denominator

thing is, if the person continues with the .txt file at some point the habits will form and maybe tools will support his goals just fine.

the Getting Things Done book starts with pencil and paper.

A lot of people do this with literal tools. They skip from a manual screwdriver to a power screwdriver before they understand the "mechanics feel"¹ of tightening a screw and make a mess of things.

Then they go back to basics, use a hand screwdriver and learn to properly tighten a screw. At some point in the future a power screwdriver will accelerate what they are doing. And when necessary, use the hand screwdriver or the principles learned with it.

1: zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance

I just vim ~/.todo.txt or more recently, just having claude code act as a middle man for it asking to generate what (should) be done then asking it what I need to do to finish x, has mcp integration to my IDE's so it can see what I am doing update the todo automatically, basically, a real life assistant which I now see why nearly every CEO has one.

What I need TODO for is just to come up with a plan for the day. I don't really look at it after that. I don't look at it after today except maybe tomorrow. So yeah, a text file works.

This would be amazing if obsidian mobile did not take 10 seconds to start or even recover from being in the background and lose scroll position every time. For the desktop I would be absolutely happy with all todos in a simple markdown file. There can also be any number of UIs on top of markdown that people use over the years and grow out of but as long as the base system is markdown files you get the best of both worlds. I would never consider using an app for notes or todos that does not persist like that and no: ability export is not the same as native persistence in a human readable format. (Discovered the heard way multiple times when apps advertising with export failed or just lied.)

just use google tasks? hello? it has notification and calendar integration

I echo the authors sentiment except for one thing: mobile-native editing experience. This is where Google Keep shines for me personally. I need to also be able to modify my notes immediately and with an intuitive note taking interface.

John Watson's "writer" webapp/website is an extremely useful and aesthetically pleasing tool that is free but has various perks for its' paid tiers. The "lifetime" purchase cost of $149.00 USD is totally worth it though.

https://writer.bighugelabs.com/welcome

Everything before the "no annoying banner ads" is included in the "free" tier:

-fast and distraction-free fullscreen writing environment -Saves automatically as you write -All writing is private, secure, and backed up regularly -Save an unlimited number of documents -Works online and off -Customize colors, fonts, and line spacing -Optional typewriter sounds -Automatic word count and writing goals -PDF and text export -Markdown formatting -No annoying banner ads

--- paid↓

-Export to Dropbox, Google Docs, Evernote, WordPress, and more -Built-in thesaurus -Word count updates as you type -Hemingway mode (backspace disabled) -Revision history -Create downloadable eBooks -Organize your writing with folders -Track your productivity with writing statistics -Downloadable archive of all your writing -Premium support

100% worth $149 for the "pro/lifetime" license. Been using it regularly since December 2021.

John Watson's website: https://johnwatsonllc.com/

me, too, then https://godspeedapp.com/, and it finally stuck.

Still very sad about no Android, but it's good enough from my computers that I've managed to work around it with a few cloudflare-worker based mobile affordances.

Very true. I never got used to any of the todo apps

You just need these three things.

- A Text Editor - A Calendar - A Cloud Sync for easy access

If you need to history just backup to any cloud drives or git or home backup.

I've created a very rudimentary bash tool for extracting todos out of markdown (GFM) files. People might like it and contribute: https://github.com/hkdobrev/notetaker

I use Google Calendar tasks. Why? Because I'm always in Google Calendar anyway. They are actually a bit shit UI wise but good enough.

It's less work than dealing with a text file and available anywhere. I could drop box a text file but editing on a phone would be fiddly.

The best native app IMO is 2Do. I have tried literally everything for years, not found anything better. One cost, no subscriptions, sync never failed me (caldav), android/iphone apps, android widgets. Also has GTD options

Todo apps or lists in text files are great until collaboration are needed.

If your'e after more for yourself across more than one device, 2do was one of the dozens that worked well for me - one of the few that used text files on a drive share to get maximum fields and functionalities instead of being limited by a caldav or something.

Beyond this Logseq is starting to be a quick capture champion. Technically text files.

The question comes down to how many areas of life, major initiatives, projects, tasks / sub tasks you might have on the go at any time, and how much you are waiting on whom.

Having something that could start as simple as a text list and absorb complexity as it comes up (dates, context, follow ups, etc) is really valuable.

Would people consider obsidian juat a note taking app and not a todo app?

Best compromise is a markdown file. You can read with it with Obsidian if you want a better gui, but you can also just treat it like a simple text file if you prefer. No lock-in to an app.

I agree that complex todo apps are a bit of a waste of time.

I use google doc as my todo, coming from notion and obsidian. It just works and syncs to all devices (even offline). Can link to documents in the drive easily. Track changes.

I created an app to deal with that and quickly add my todos/thoughts from anywhere on my Mac https://usetype.app

[Windows Only] - Just create a .txt file, add `.LOG` at the top and save it. Next time you open it on `Notepad`, it will automatically add a timestamp.

Notebook + pen. Checkboxes. A mix of half-hour timeblocks ala the Pomodoro method, and plain checklists for shopping tasks. For stuff that’s extra important or is happening in the next few days I slap a post-it on my desktop monitor somewhere I’ll have to constantly move it when I’m using the whole screen to work.

If I want to get fancy then I have a couple of bookmarks to custom myNoise.net multi gens configured to run for 25min.

I also have some pretty notebooks and a cheap fountain pen, this combo makes me feel like a witch when I write in them and that’s fun.

I have tried a ton of apps and they all fall by the wayside. I have to buy a new bottle of ink once or twice a year and the occasional notebook. Simple. Gets out of the way and never requires me to open up the Attention Sink and lose a half an hour getting distracted by a Telegram message or whatever.

I solved my problem with a todo stack, stored in a text file.

Basically it's a TUI app that operates on new line separated text.

Insanely simple. can only operate on the top 3 todo items. All one shot keypresses to manipulate.

But I absolutely love it. Use it every day. Those one shot keypresses to manipulate may not sound like much, but it's always 1-4 less keypresses than I'd need in vim, and the limitations free up a lot of mental space.

(I'd give a link but it's posix only and I you'd have to compile it yourself, and also I don't want to implement your features).

I can't believe this is what hackernews has become. This kind of stuff is at the top.

Checkvist is pretty decent, entirely keyboard shortcut driven. I'm a beast when it comes to making and editing lists with Checkvist, so fast.

I can rearrange, nest, denest, move up or down in hierarchy, just focus in on one hierarchy, mark as completed, filter search.

All with keyboard shortcuts!

I tried a bunch of different shoe styles, but decided that cheap sandals are really all you need. You people wearing boots, sneakers or loafers should really consider going back to basics.

I mean, we all have feet, right? And we all want to protect the soles of our feet, so there's really no need for all the bells and whistles like laces or padding.

> Todoist: Great until I realized I was gaming the points system instead of doing actual work. Turns out completing “drink water” 8 times a day doesn’t make you productive.

OP was drinking 2+ liters of water per day. It may not be productive work-wise, but it's productive health-wise.

So... win?

For work I use pen and paper now. Sometimes a notepad on the Mac and every few days I sum everything up on paper. For iOS the best tool I found is Goodtask, a lot a customization, build upon Reminders from Apple so a single source of truth, integrates with calendar and Siri. Awesome app.

I use markdown files in vs code. Supports folding of sections, combined with a few keyword/char patterns that I highlight different colors. Also get code highlighting in properly labeled code sections.

I dunno, I've been using Todoist for years and it works just fine for me.

I tried every todo app and ended up with a small stack of flash cards and pen.

There‘s text based and there‘s text based.

I keep my tasks in textfiles (markdown) as well. Not one, but several, for all kinds of projects. And I view my files in Obsidian, although I open them in neovim as well, searching via ripgrep, finding via fd, fzf, viewing via bat. All in terminal.

Textfiles are great.

Emacs + orgmode is also an excellent choice, but that’s all tied to Emacs. And Orgmode files do not render nicely in other editors/viewers. Besides it‘s overkill. Trying to do everything in one app. I prefer the Unix way. Do one thing and do it good.

I tried 'todo.txt' and gave up when I needed more control over recurrency and other small details (I also missed being able to attach files to tasks for quick reference).

Currently setting up [DAVx5](https://www.davx5.com/tested-with) to be used with [jtx Board](https://jtx.techbee.at/sync-with-davx5#setup) and [Radicale](https://radicale.org/v3.html). It's quite a bit of overhead at first but then I can trivially manage my calendar and contacts afterwards.

CalDAV has provisions for [vTODO](https://icalendar.org/iCalendar-RFC-5545/3-6-2-to-do-component.html) and [vJOURNAL](https://icalendar.org/iCalendar-RFC-5545/3-6-3-journal-component.html) so my hope is that this is a durable FOSS solution to aid in getting out of some Google services.

I’ve been using the same OneNote for like 20 years now. It is backed up, synced and available no matter what device I’m on. Hundreds of lists, notes, references, thoughts, all fully searchable and quick to access.

Google Keep is a nice concept. Text and available on all devices.

Taskwarrior is my go to Software if I'm not currently in the piece of paper mode. Its good for Automatic priotization and by using from terminal close enough to a text file

Many years ago, I standardized on Journal in Microsoft Outlook.

Well guess what. Microsoft created Notes and Journal bceame a "legacy app." It was not possible to migrate. The deprecation of the .PST file in Exchange Server left me no way to transfer when I lease-rolled to a new laptop.

Enter Notes. As in, "notes.txt", which is exactly the same idea as todo.txt described here. Works. If this text file ever becomes machine unreadable, file compatibility will be the least of our worries.

I have a lot of longer term notes that are just ideas (a.k.a "genius ideas") but written in "to-do" format. I found using different solutions for different notes is the best IMO.

MS OneNote* for all longer term to-dos, or writings I wish to archive.

Paper or notepad.exe for ephemeral to-dos.

: one large synced notebook with folders, sub-folders, and w/e nested levels it offers, but I use search anyway.* *: this can totally be replicated with documents/files, folders, and a git repo. (and maybe some markdown editor)

> Todoist: Great until I realized I was gaming the points system instead of doing actual work. Turns out completing “drink water” 8 times a day doesn’t make you productive.

This is such a strange conclusion. Just... stop using the points system? I've been using Todoist for years and I've never intentionally done anything with the points or looked at them. That said, I've learned about myself that checking things off is surprisingly motivating. Having a discrete task, even for a tiny thing, makes it much more likely that I will do it.

If a text file works for you, great! But it's strange for the bar to be "the tool must not have any features I find useless".

For simple TODOs honestly using the Reminders app for Mac is the easiest.

For more complex TODOs and lists, I have my own bespoke note taking web app that syncs with S3.

Either way I'm not paying for a TODO app!

Since we're sharing our setups, I self-host https://github.com/nanawel/our-shopping-list, which is a nice clean, simple list keeper that can install as a PWA, and https://github.com/binwiederhier/ntfy for recurring notifications; every morning a shell script runs over a text file full of reminders (mostly birthdays) and sends me a notification about them.

In my experience of trying dozens of todo apps and systems over the years, they become a reflection of some theoretical ideal version of myself and inevitably fail because I am not someone who is inherently organised and disciplined with task completion.

Turns out this was my problem. I just wasn't serious about keeping track of things to do, and doing them. No app in the world could solve that. Once I started to take it seriously, it doesn't really matter what you use to keep track of things. If it's there, you'll do it.

Why do these types of blog posts always blow up on hacker news?

"I tried every new zany method but our tried and true classic is what I selected!"

Yea tho I prefet nested markdown check-lists

I have stuck with my todo app, that I wrote 15 years ago. Writing something as fundamental as this helps with both the features as well as the using it for my own benefit. My app is available at https://beaver.learntosolveit.com

Gtask works good for me

I’ve dabbled with todo lists in the past, and keep coming back to — doing nothing.

At least with todo list apps specifically.

I have a pretty bad memory, so I’m the target audience for todo lists. But I think what’s worked for me has been a combination of:

- Keeping things simple. At work I try to only focus on one thing at a time. I have a bug tracker that’s used to track larger items (everyone uses the same tool), but it’s not a personal todo list in a more granular sense.

- Reminders app on the iPhone. I use this just so I don’t forget to do things that aren’t naturally top of mind. Or, at least things that should become a priority, but only at a later point. And I don’t have many times that I need these. Maybe a few times a month, and a few recurring ones.

But other than this, if it’s really that important, I’ll remember it anyway. And if I don’t, and it’s not tracked with a bug (work) or reminder (home), it’s not that important.

So unless you count the occasional use of the Reminders app, or our work bug tracker tool, then I’m currently not using any todo lists, and it’s been working fine.

Lol @ "every todo app" . There must be literally tens of thousands.

The best one is https://taskwarrior.org/ , which was missing from this list.

Precious few task/todo apps have this exact combination of features I’m looking for:

* Native Mac, iOS, and Android apps, plus access via web * Reminder notifications for native apps * Start/defer dates AND due dates * Option to recur from start/due dates or completed date

Todoist doesn’t support start dates. Things and OmniFocus support nearly all of these things, but aren’t available on Android. Nirvana doesn’t support notifications on desktop.

I'm quite happy with Apple Notes. I use it all the time, for todo lists, for taking notes during meetings, for anything really. Actually, as a general principle, I try to embrace the tools that are readily available and limit the amount of customization.

> “But what about collaboration?” - I use work tools for work. This is for my life.

I'm working on local-first collaboration for Obsidian (https://relay.md), and there's something so nice about editors and then collaboration as layers of "progressive enhancement" over files on my own machine.

I want me-centric software that treats life and work as just folders on my device. IMO git/github is a model experience for this kind of thing.

It's great to have text files that I can use vim, rg, fzf, etc on my laptop, then switch to use the best writing tool (Obsidian IMO) on any of my devices, and then sync the content and collaborate in-real time with my team.

Just go 1 step up to a set of .md files and Obsidian; that's what I did, anyway.

Similar to this idea to increase accessibility:

Just use tasks.google.com

Add your todos, when finished, type DONE in front of it, this way it' a journal and you get to feel good about all the things you've done since you're always looking at your list. Anything without a DONE needs to be done. You can write details in each entry, too.

No subscriptions, no fees, accessible from your phone, computer. etc. Keep it simple, folks.

Add using ripgrep with it.

I use the same application for my to-do list as I use for my "scattered everything" documentation: Noteself[0] (not affiliated, just a happy user for many years). It's a modification to TiddlyWiki that allows for the use of couchDB for essentially 'cloud hosting' (which I self-host).

I have a Calendar for appointments, which provides reminders as notifications and or email. That's outside my scope for a to-do app, although it's complementary.

I have two 'tiddlers' that open up front by default, one is the regular weekly schedule of things (with some calendar overlap) and the other is my (now very long) bullet pointed to-do list. It doesn't matter (to me) how long the to-do list is because the more important things are very near the top - merely by the passage of time if they haven't been done yet then they weren't important enough. But I keep them on the list as reminders of things I wanted to do and may still pursue at some point in the future (retirement perhaps?).

It's essentially a text file, but I can access the current version from any browser anywhere in the world (maybe not China) as long as I remember the URL, username and password. (It's more like multiple organised text files)

[0]: https://noteself.org/

Same here. No need for any bloat. Simple text file in Notepad4 (Notepad2⨯2, Notepad2++).

I feel exactly the same as the OP and went on a long journey to build something better. 5 versions and many years later I think have something. It's remarkably similar to a text editor.

I just kept peeling back to that because for each product I tried to build I still ended up reverting back to a big ass text file to manage my building of my product!

Only the current version is the one I have been able to stick with. It starts with text editor as the foundation and then adds features (that are hidden) on top of that.

Hoping to release to some friends in Sep.

> Create a file called todo.txt yes, thank you.