Dick Tracy Hipster PDA

September 29, 2007 11:23 AM

I need a way to keep my short, paper todo list in my face. Something like a luggage tag that I could wear like a wrist band, so I could glance down and see my four tasks for the day. What else might work?

Keeping a 3 x 5 card in my pocket doesn't work because I don't look at it. Same with a palm pilot. Ideally, nothing that looks to dorky, but I know that's asking a lot given that the list has to be visible. And I hate writing on my hand.

posted by mecran01 to Education (22 answers total)

If you carry your cell phone on a holster, you could put a sticky note on the backside of the phone so when someone calls, you're reminded it's there, but when it's in the holster, no one can see it. Or, you could wrap a sticky note around a watchband.
posted by desjardins at 11:32 AM on September 29, 2007

Just write the list on your wrist?
posted by HighTechUnderpants at 11:34 AM on September 29, 2007

Response by poster: Hmmm..

I think I might take a small black luggage tag, put my todo list inside it, and attach it to the inside of my watchband. Maybe.
posted by mecran01 at 11:35 AM on September 29, 2007

Response by poster: Can't write on my wrist. Irrational fear of ink poisoning, and it looks like I've been watching Memento too much.
posted by mecran01 at 11:36 AM on September 29, 2007

You could use a football wrist coach, just like NFL quarterbacks do!
posted by paulsc at 11:38 AM on September 29, 2007 [4 favorites]

So I guess writing backwards on your forehead is a no-no?

How about buying some cheap white t-shirts and writing the tasks with fabric markers?
posted by zemblamatic at 11:41 AM on September 29, 2007

...upside down of course
posted by zemblamatic at 11:42 AM on September 29, 2007

Maybe you could write it very small and put it inside the face of a watch that's easy to take apart. That way it won't smear if you wash your hands.
posted by xo at 11:49 AM on September 29, 2007

Best answer: What if you took a retractable badge lanyard and a vinyl holder and then you could insert your to-do list into the holder daily and attach the lanyard to your belt or wherever?
posted by stefnet at 11:53 AM on September 29, 2007 [3 favorites]

I like stefnet's idea. Me, I put notes under the cellophane of my cigarette pack--(unfortunately) a constant reminder.
posted by wafaa at 12:13 PM on September 29, 2007

What about combining a few ideas, and using the 3 x 5 notecard to store the information, and something very small to remind you to look at that?
posted by DMan at 12:21 PM on September 29, 2007

Response by poster: I'm liking Stefnet's idea. I may just hang a luggage tag off my belt too, with a business card in it.

The football wrist coach is hideous, but very intriguing, the equivalent perhaps of The Cruel Shoes. The thing that you know will hurt you, yet you must possess it.
posted by mecran01 at 12:35 PM on September 29, 2007

Maybe do it Apollo style and wear a big glove with an attached checklist? Might work better if you're millions of miles away from the rest of humanity, though.
posted by xil at 1:26 PM on September 29, 2007

You could handmake a hipper QB-style wristband with a nicer (and smaller) sweatband, a little vinyl pocket and some hot glue, or even just safety-pin the day's paper list to the sweatband, for a punkier look.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:44 PM on September 29, 2007

Taking your first sentence literally, how about this? All you need is a straw and a post-it note.
posted by hydrophonic at 2:00 PM on September 29, 2007

Lifehacker had an article on a DIY arm-mounted task nagger a while back.
posted by philomathoholic at 2:32 PM on September 29, 2007 [1 favorite]

I recently bought a packet of these. The cover was so damn cute I couldn't resist.
posted by Foam Pants at 4:58 PM on September 29, 2007

Best answer: Damnit!
posted by Foam Pants at 5:00 PM on September 29, 2007

Dunno if you're male or female, but I used to put sticky notes on the side of my purse with my reminders and "to do" lists. (If I put notes inside of my purse, they were immediately lost, which is why I started pasting them on the outside.)
posted by Oriole Adams at 6:10 PM on September 29, 2007

Make a list small enough that you can tape it to the back of your cell phone or wallet.
posted by B(oYo)BIES at 6:28 PM on September 29, 2007

Get a watch with an alarm and set it to an odd time every hour :09 or something. When the watch beeps get out your index card and look at it. Problem solved.
posted by aetg at 7:09 AM on September 30, 2007

if you consider how many times a day you'd like to see the list, maybe that will lead you to decide where to put it- because you can put the list on something you interact with X times a day.

some sample places to ensure frequency & timing of reference:

into my (clamshell) cel phone, so i see note whenever i make/take a call,
on my shoes, so i see note as i get ready to leave the house,
on my lip balm, which i use every couple hours,
in your eyeglass case, so youll see it before you start reading,
in your laptop,
in your wallet, maybe attached to your credit or debit card,
on the bathroom mirror,
on the doorknob of the relevant room or closet,
umm, pin it to your underpants? then every time you pee, you'll see it?

or, my favourite to-do hack:

i email myself the task as the subject header of a blank email. i don't open, archive, or delete the email til the task is done. it sits in my email inbox, brightly unread, til i process the task.
timecave.com is a useful way to use the email system for longer-term tasks.
posted by twistofrhyme at 4:30 PM on October 1, 2007