Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with gtd

Help me get out from under all these piles of to-do lists!

lunasol — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:52:37 -0800

I'm looking for a productivity app that can help me manage both my projects and my time. I use google for email and calendars (my employer uses google apps, plus I have a personal gmail account). I use two computers, both of which are PCs, and an iPhone.

I have a job where I have up to 10 different projects going on at any given time, all with varying timelines and complexity, and many involving other people. My current system of making to-do lists of the things that have to get done today is really not going to cut it anymore.

Here's what I'm looking for in a productivity app:

- Something that can sync across all the platforms I use on a daily basis (iPhone, gmail/google calendars, PCs)

- The functionality to easily take big projects and break them into smaller tasks. For instance, if the project is "Go grocery shopping with Susan," I could break it up into: "ask Susan what time works best for her," "make a meal plan for the week with needed ingredients," "Check pantry to see what I already have," "make shopping list," "go shopping."

- The ability to give these tasks a deadline and/or schedule, and then integrate them into my calendar. So if something needs to be done at a specific time, it automatically goes on the calendar at that time. Bonus points if I can easily take a day's to-do list and slot the tasks into empty spots in my calendar (drag and drop, maybe?)

I'm willing to pay a bit for such a program if necessary. Also, I'm already mucking around with Remember the Milk and Evernote - both of these are appealing, but don't have the ability to easily break projects into tasks and neither integrates the way I'd like with calendars. Although I'm new to both, so let me know if there's something I'm missing!

Laboratory of iPhonology

roofus — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:10:37 -0800

Any recommendations for iPhone apps or Web apps that will be useful in a basic science lab. I would like suggestions for handy apps for:

- running multiple timers
- anything that will expand my understanding of modern molecular biology
- literature searching (particularly genetics)
- general productivity

I am already au fait with Things, Evernote, Papers, and iTunes U

Help this department of 1 get things done

genial — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:59:23 -0800

As a one-man IT department I'm beginning to have trouble juggling multiple projects along with the day to day stuff. What can I do to make this easier? Searching along this topic yields tons of GTD advice along with plenty of software to help with project management. But a lot of stuff assumes different situations involving a team of people working on something or one person tracking individual tasks. My job is comprised of being Helpdesk day to day for all the small software/hardware/networking/setup issues that arise along with a growing list of short and long term projects. For the past 5 months I've been juggling things ok, but as the list of projects grows and I'm with the company longer I need to figure out a way to manage all of this without sinking.

What I do need is good advice on ways of managing short term and long term goals. I'm a geek so anything software related that will help me is welcome. What I don't need is overpriced packages of software or the advice to just keep a to-do list. That's not working at this point. I know this question is likely somewhere in the archives but I'm having a lot of trouble finding scenarios where 1 person manages an entire department with no "team" and needs to manage short and long term projects. Help?

Can you help me figure out a hybrid paper/electronic system with an iphone or something completely different?

Not Supplied — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:52:50 -0800

I just need a 'Getting Things Done' system that works. Can you help me figure out a hybrid paper/electronic system with an iphone or something completely different? I really want to implement the getting things done system, but having a hard time finding a system that works.

I thought I needed an electronic system. I find it hard to lay out a project in sequential order on paper so using a system that allows subprojects where I can shift things around to my hearts content seems right. I enjoyed using omnifocus on a mac.

Partly on the strength of that I got an shared iphone contract with someone. However, I hate using omnifocus on the iphone its fiddly and rsi inducing...and I don't own a mac to do the main work on there. The iphone is good for occasional email and internet on the move but I don't like using it much.

Also stuff doesn't integrate that well...omnifocus can't do alarms for tasks when I need them or integrate with the calendar etc.

I'm quite attracted to the hipster pda idea where you use index cards etc to make a paper based organiser. I like the idea of capturing ideas on paper with mind maps etc. However I find it hard to see how I won't be endlessly rewriting lists...no way of rearranging projects and subtasks. Also for phone book, diary etc you can't really beat a pda.

I know it's a bit vague, but I'm basically saying 'help' I've been looking on the net for ages and just can't visualise something that would work for me...so has anyone got any ideas that might work out better. I could use my iphone or could look at trading in for something else..really need to get organised!

Notetaker Wallet without the big price tag

nam3d — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:33:00 -0800

I really like the look of David Allen NoteTaker wallet, the only downside being I can't afford the $80 price tag. Are their any similar wallets out there without the high price tag?

MS Project like to-do list

Muffy — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:09:43 -0800

todolist filter: I know there are dozens of questions here about to-do lists already, but, alas, none of them fit my requirements. I really like MS Project - it's hierarchical (tasks can nest), and can enforce due dates, but it's too heavy handed for what I need & old tasks don't disappear. I need something like MS Project, but simpler... Things I like about MS Project.

* You can easily add/edit task names without opening a new window - everything is editable in the cell a-la MS Excel.
* You can easily manage due dates without opening a new window - same as above.
* Tasks can be nested & the top nest becomes the "folder" that contains the sub-tasks & the interface for nesting is very simple.
* Nested tasks can be collapsed easily
* Tasks can have predecessors & don't really become 'to do' items until the predecessor is complete - this is a nice to have, but not necessary.
* You can assign people/resources to tasks - again a nice to have, but not necessary, I can just use (parens) to indicate in the title.
* I don't need GANTT charts, but they're a nice to have.

Things I don't like about MS Project (for this use).

* You can't simply 'checkbox' select a task as complete.
* Tasks don't disappear when they're completed, so it's not a good way to track day-to-day tasks.
* You can't easily sort tasks by due date & priority or hide the tree.

Task Coach gets about 80% of the way there, but the interface is a dealbreaker for me. I've also tried Swift To Do Lite, which is in some ways even better, but the inability to nest (though there is a sort of tree structure in the left pane), and the inability to see all tasks related to a project regardless of subfolder is an issue. Web Based (not preferred, but acceptable) TaDalist lacks due dates. Tasks Jr. is very good and I used it for a while & may go back to it, but being web (and non AJAX) it each task addition is a new screen, but there were some other issues I had with it that I didn't like (but don't right now remember).

Is there anything out there that does what I want? Free is better, but I'll pay for something that checks all the boxes.

Looking for an iPhone GTD app, with a small twist

edmz — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:03:13 -0800

Help me find a todo app (preferably a GTD one) for the iPhone that meets my very particular(?) needs. First of all, maybe there are websites that already have this functionality but I don't have a data plan for the iPhone and I can't get one since they are too expensive in my country.

Now, I currently use the Things app for the iPhone, but it lacks the 3 things that I need the most:

* timestamps: I would like to know when I added a task
* completion notes: I would like to type a note when closing a task, so that I can tell what I did to accomplish it
* optionally, a better log: I would like to add events to the log, thus adding more context to the tasks i just finished.

See, sometimes I use Things to track stuff I lend or borrow. For example, if I add a task saying that I need to give Peter a book back. Things will only allow me to mark that task as done.

What I would like is for an App to be able to show me when I added a specific task. Also, when I finish a task I should be able to type "I gave Peter the book back when we met for coffee". Optionally, I should be able to add an entry to the task log saying "I spent 10 dollars in the coffee shop".

I have tried ToodleDo, Task Pro and Todo, and none of these apps, which are the most popular, seem to fit the bill.

Do you have any recommendations?

Looking for a wiki-database hybrid

raamenchan — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:27:46 -0800

I'm looking for a wiki-database hybrid that I can self host. I want the wiki part so I can create a personal database of ideas and resources for myself (recipes, travel notes, lists, etc).

But I also would like a database aspect to it because I would like to use that same wiki for contacts management as well. And while I can do it with a wiki, it would be much better if it had fields to make the contacts more searchable, as well as has the ability to export information (probably as CSVs) for email programs.

With the hybrid, I could also set up a sort of CRM system for my personal business as well due the to flexibility.

I actually found something that matches what I'm looking for: wikidBASE, but it runs on Django and my web host doesn't support it.

So I was wondering if there were any alternatives. I'm also not hot on the appearance of wikidBASE, but I can live with it as long as I have the function... which I currently don't even have =/

(I currently also have very little knowledge on what things like Django, and the platform Python that it runs on, actually are.)

If any of you are familiar with David Allen's GTD, this is sort of like an online extension of the General Reference system that he employs.

After years of frustration, help me find the planner I really want.

skypieces — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 09:22:25 -0800

Daily Planner Question: need a two-page-per-day, "classic" (5 1/2 x 8 1/2) size. Have used DayTimer and Franklin (Covey) alternately for years. Standard packages from both either have extraneous materials that I don't need renewed each year or force me to order a base package that is insufficient and supplement it with specific things a la carte, driving up the price. Details inside. Suggestions? (Note: this is not so much about exploring different formats for better organization. I know what I want. Just need help actually finding it. Print-your-own materials are not feasible for me.)

Format: 2 page per day

Size: 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" ("half-page")

Monthly tabbed dividers must be two-page (one-page is too tiny to write in)

Do not need more contact pages (have many left over from previous years of ordering)

Do not need more "goal setting" and "mission writing" materials; no more pages of hotel and rental car numbers, mileage/expense forms, etc. Have plenty left over from past years if I want them.

Do not need another binder. My real leather binder is still in great shape after 10+ years.

Only need one year of filler with two-page monthly dividers. My layout is:

Right-handed

Prefer a long "to do" column on the left page

Prefer an "appointment" column on the left page

Prefer a "phone numbers" section for calls to be made each day

Prefer another "expense" or such section each day (I personally use this to list additional items I need to bring with me each day, a "don't forget this" list)

The right-hand page is usually exclusively "diary". I would entertain the notion of moving some of the smaller sections I want to that side. I don't usually use even half of the diary side, and when I would, I have supplementary lined pages I can insert for special needs.

The products I have used include DayTimer's Reference edition and also Covey's Leadership edition.

The Covey does not include the phone number and expense ("don't forget this") sections, But, two-page monthly tabs are stock for this edition. Trouble is, it includes all the crap I don't need (about a fourth of the package)

Daytimer has a good layout, but the monthly tabs are one-page only and I have to order the two-page separately. Plus, it too includes a bunch of extraneous stuff.

Every year I tell myself that there must be something out there that has just what I want, but I don't find it in time to order. I hereby beseech the Hive Mind for suggestions to settle this conundrum once and for all.

Is there a "family size" web task/calendar system that'll survive my work's firewall policy?

Lazlo — Thu, 28 May 2009 23:01:34 -0800

My household has suddenly found itself need of a new family-scale web-based planning/organization tool. This is tougher than it might sound as we (well, I) have some pretty twitchy technical requirements, thanks to my work's firewall rules. My wife and I have been happy users of one of the very-low-user-count plans at Backpack for a couple of years, but the moment I've been dreading has finally arrived: I can't use it from work anymore. My employer blocks sites classified by McAfee as "Personal Web Storage", and McAfee has finally figured out that Backpack's file storage features qualify.

I have no problem with my company's firewall rules -- they make sense given the business we're in -- but they seriously complicate picking a replacement. I'm likely to have trouble using any site with personal file-storage features (even just document files -- IIRC Google Docs is blocked, for example), which relies on another site with personal-file-storage features (like Amazon S3, which has storage front-ends like JungleDisk), or which hosts public discussion forums (support forums or "discussion board" features tied to personal sites are probably ok).

We need something that offers multi-user calendar sharing, to-do list management, and general notes-and-clips features, in that order -- anything else is a bonus. Reasonable monthly charges are fine. I want to use it rather than maintain it so self-hosted packages are out. And desktop clients that sync content to the web are ok but they have to run on Windows and they can't be a mandatory component of the solution.

(Having said that, if there's an iPod Touch [not iPhone] app that can sync to a web site but which keeps a local cache so it works well without a live wifi connection, I wouldn't need to access the web interface from work, making all the firewall-related restrictions moot. We might even be able to stick with Backpack under those circumstances -- I know there are a couple of Backpack clients for the Touch, but how well do they really work when you're offline?)

Are we boxed completely into a corner here, or are there still some options available?

Blocking distracting programs to get work done

flatluigi — Sun, 03 May 2009 21:17:26 -0800

Help me focus on my work! I need to get some work done but I'm very easily distracted by things on the internet. I'd just go offline, but I need to stay connected for the particular work I'm doing.

Are there any programs out there that I can download to keep particular programs (firefox, chrome, steam, etc) from executing while it's running?

How do I stop worrying about things I don't need to worry about?

the_dude — Sat, 02 May 2009 10:35:41 -0800

GTDFilter: I need help managing my time but it's something different. Not necessarily time for doing things but thinking about them. Basically, I cannot cope with multiple responsibilities effectively; even small things end up taking hours. My problem is this: I'm a fairly active student at a fairly demanding college. With classes and extracurricular activities, I have tons of responsibilities, and to be brutally honest, I'm doing OK in most of them.

My problem is this: if I know that I will have to do something due that day or that week, that single responsibility prevents me from having any sort of enjoyment in anything else. You'd say that I should just get that thing done and go on with my life but sometimes, I cannot technically start doing that work (like I have to wait on someone else do something first as it happens a lot in group projects).

This may not seem that bad but it's really annoying at times. To give you an example: I had a 6 page paper due this friday. Really, I could have pulled that off in 2 hours or less. However, I had to wait until Thursday night to get a confirmation from the teacher about the outline.

However, starting from wednesday, I just was thinking about it all the time. It just keeps my mind off other things; like personal projects that I want to work on or going out with friends.

I don't know if this is making any sense but I feel like my problem is with just compartmentalizing things mentally. I do not have trouble prioritizing or getting things done in the sense of time management. And I do not feel like I'm overwhelmed for that reason; I know there's enough time. But maybe I'm wrong and that's why I need some perspective on this.

I have a mind like water, if by water you mean squirrel.

4ster — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 12:24:38 -0800

Please help me get organized. I have read far to many books and blogs about personal productivity and organization. I have tried practically every computer-based and web 2.0 application. I've tried GTD, Franklin-Covey, and my own home-brewed ideas, and while I seem to be able to take something good from them all, I can't seem to find a cohesive way of being and staying organized. I'm considering ditching some of the high-tech stuff for something simpler (paper), and I need some advice. Oh, and for what it's worth, I have ADD.

My current setup is:

1. Gmail
2. GCal
3. Tracks.tra.in (www.tracks.tra.in). It's a hosted Tracks site.
4. Blackberry
5. Gigantic 8'x4' whiteboard for brainstorming.
6. I also use a Mac, and I almost never use a PC.

I'm pretty good at paper filing. I use a label maker, and i have separate file drawers for archives, committees I work with, and projects. I have three files on my desk ("hold," "file," and "read").

Calendar is easy. Google Calendar effortlessly syncs with the Blackberry using Google Sync, and only "hard landscape" items go on my calendar.

Gmail makes me decent at e-mail. It is easily searchable, and I have labels like "needs reply," "waiting," "hold," "do" etc. Each project gets its own label.

However, as far as making lists of things to do and organizing them with their relevant data (e-mail, meeting notes, random thoughts that pop into my head, etc., I completely suck. As a result, my days quickly spin out of control, and I have all this noise in my head that comes from operating within a system I don't trust and cannot seem to effectively use.

I love how with Tracks/Toodledo etc., I can easily use the Blackberry or Gmail to e-mail stuff into my tasks/projects lists. However, I can do this so quickly that I'm not really paying attention to stuff as I'm filing it.

Plus, I have a very hard time looking at my gigantic master task list and deciding on a reasonable list of things to do in one day, and I'm terrible at figuring out how long stuff is going to take me to do, so I rarely assign due dates to anything, including the discreet tasks that comprise a project.

Yes, I know I've over thought this, and yes, I know that the ADD fuels a great deal of this. Also, when I say I've tried everything, I'm not too far off. I've tried the Palm devices, Outlook, Things, Mail.app, iCal, Remember the Milk, Backpack, Toodledo, Jott, Tracks, Toodoist, 30 Boxes, Skoach, ClearContext, and Entourage(to name a few).

From GTD, I learned the importance of capturing thoughts, good paper filing practices, and the weekly review. Contexts didn't work for me at all. From Franklin-Covey and Total Workday Control, I learned the importance of having a daily list of things to do, separate from a master list of tasks, so I've got a handful of good practices but no workable system.

I bought a Palm III almost immediately after grad school, and I've been using electronic organization my entire professional life, so I have never, ever learned how to effectively use a paper planning system. Which is sad.

What appeals to me about paper is:
- I can't surf the internet or play Wingnuts on it.
- The act of physically writing things down seems like it would help me better slow down and mentally process things I have to do.
- It's easier to draw circles and arrows on paper.
- I don't have to charge it or find a wifi signal. It's portable.
- 8.5" x 11" is larger than my Blackberry screen.
- I over-tweak everything, and digital systems seem to make this worse.

What does not appeal to me about a paper system:
- I have no idea what I'm doing when I'm trying to use it.
- If I lose my paper planner, I am screwed.
- Not knowing how to use e-mail (which is digital) alongside paper, which is analog.
- My handwriting is pretty bad.

I have so over thought this for so many years that my head is about to explode. I have the freedom to use any system at work that I like, so there's that.

My apologies for the long question, and many thanks for your advice.

Location-based reminders for Blackberry

jinatrix — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 12:05:29 -0800

Is there an application for Blackberry that has the ability to give location-specific reminders? The goal: to be able to specify reminders to only go off when the device is in a specified geographic area. Example - I need to pick up something I left at a friend's house, but I only want to be reminded when I am in the vicinity of his house.

Is there a standalone blackberry app that provides this, or a web-based app that can work with location information provided by, for example, google latitude, and generate SMS/email reminders?

I'm looking for a freeware, Thunderbirdesque reminder prog

Solomon — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 04:48:57 -0800

Please help me find a small (in size and resource usage), freeware reminder programme. I'm looking for a programme that will remind me to do things, that has the following features:

1] A customisable alarm and visual reminder similar to Thunderbird's new message popup. Unlike Thunderbird, I'd like this message to stay until I deal with it.
2] Can set reminders on a calendar like view, also being able to choose the time of the reminders appearance.
3] A snooze feature for the reminders. If the reminder appears, and I don't deal with it, it will flash the window/sound the alarm every n minutes until I deal with it.
4] Being able to tick a box that says "dealt with" to the programme would be nice.
5] Suitable for a very old laptop (128mb RAM, 800mhz CPU) running Win2k AND for a 1 year old PC running XP.
6] Preferably an HTML interface on the reminder, so if I included an http:// link in the reminder text, I could click on the link and be taken to the relevant site.
7] It being something I could stick on a thumb drive (by design or serendipity) would be extremely helpful.

I specifically don't want something I have to be connected to the internet to use. I also don't want it to be

Personal recommendations are very welcome.

Tactile reminder device

jinatrix — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:41:45 -0800

What sorts of vibrating reminder devices are out there? The goal: I am looking for a small (pager-sized or smaller) wearable vibrating device that can be programmed to vibrate at certain intervals to serve as a tactile reminder system.

The requirements are: 1. it must be wearable, preferably on the ankle (out of sight), 2. it must be able to reliably go off at any programmed interval for a set number of recurrences or until manually stopped, 3. it should be relatively inaudible and not sound like a chainsaw.

Even better if it has some or all of these features: variable vibration strength, multiple vibration patterns (e.g. pulse length, number of pulses), countdown timer, daily alarm.

I am aware of a few products such as the epill reminder and invisible clock but am looking for alternate options to see what's out there. Also, I am open to suggestions involving a DIY approach, if anyone knows how to cobble something like this together using easily obtained components.

Make My To Do System Better.

RandlePatrickMcMurphy — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 08:05:50 -0800

I'm happy with the system I've come up with on Google calendar to keep a to do list and track my budget and workouts. Help me make it better. After long and fruitless experimentation, and noting many of the programs and ideas that come up in posts like this, I've finally come up with a system that works for me.

In addition to my main Google calendar where I have all the appointments and time-sensitive things, and that is synced to be blackberry and outlook at work, I've created separate "calendars" - sub-calendars, really - that contain my work and personal to do lists and record expenses and workouts in the "event details." It works like this: for the to do lists, every morning or at the end of the day, I hit "duplicate event", change the date to today or the next day, and go into the event details, where I have a list of things organized GTD style, by @office, @home, etc or by big projects or themes, and delete what I've done and add whatever's come up. The money and workout calendars work the same way, in "what" it says workout or money, and in event details I put in whatever I've spent or done. (And they're recurring events, so the blank is there every morning to be filled in.)

So all this works great. Each calendar is a different color, I can chose which ones I see, and because its all in one place, as opposed to having one program to do budgets (ie xpenser or quicken), one to track workouts, one for to do lists, I actually use it every day. I like it so much I'm thinking about adding a calendar to track what i eat. And I'm reading about unschedules and thinking that could be integrated into this as well. (And, feel free to steal and adapt if you think this could work for you.)

Here's the question: What creative ways are there to make this better? For example: How could I easily edit these calendars on my blackberry or by SMS? How can I see the event details for one of those calendars for an entire week or month? Would it be possible (and I'm no programmer) to come up with a way to add up the quantities in event details? Can I get appointments to open up in event details by default? Or: Is there some off-the-shelf solution that does all this and more?

Task management without the cloud

devnull — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 06:41:48 -0800

Oh no not another task management question! I'm looking for a web-based task manager that lets me sub-divide tasks. I'd like to manage my day better. I read The Zen of Todoist, and I like their web app. The Windows-only ToDoList app looks good too, but I'm on Windows and Linux. Something java based like jtodolist would almost do, but the interface needs lots of work.

I'd like something similar to all of these, something that lets me sub-divide a task into lots of smaller tasks.

I can't use something in the cloud because of confidentiality reasons.
Ideally an app that lets me sync between Linux and Windows computers, or a web based app.

TaskFreak! looks promising but doesn't support sub tasks.

If it supports keyboard shortcuts a-la-gmail or vim, that would probably swing it for me.

Any ideas?

How do I whittle down my massive reading pile?

ocherdraco — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 07:51:33 -0800

How do you manage your reading pile? Not the one you have for pleasure, but the pile of things (reports, proposals, books, etc.) you have to read for work. Part of my job is reading proposals and manuscripts for potential books to publish.*

Currently, I don't so much have a "system" for getting this done. I just have a pile. And it grows and grows until it's monstrously large because I don't actually have time to read during the workday, and I find it difficult to make myself read mostly lame proposals at home. How do I organize myself so that the reading pile actually gets done? What do you do to get through similar piles of reading?

Here are the things I'm supposed to do:

Log a proposal or manuscript when it arrives. (I am horrible at keeping logs. I hate them. They seem like an unnecessary step—that is, until someone calls, wondering what happened with The Greatest Proposal You Will Ever Read in Your Life, and I have no idea what it is or if I've read it.)

Read it and decide whether to pass it on to my boss, or to reject it.

If I'm rejecting, write a letter and return the ms/proposal.

If I'm forwarding it to my boss, write a concise assessment.

Note in the log whether I forwarded it on or rejected it, and what eventually happens to it.

What sort of system would you set up for yourself to get through this series of steps for approximately 30 manuscripts or proposals?

*While I am a publisher, I am not your publisher. Please don't pitch me your book. Besides, as you can see from my question, I don't even actually get through my reading pile as it is.

Verizon PDA/Cell with no dataplan?

retro88 — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 11:05:21 -0800

Are there any good GTD and/or organizational solutions using a Verizon phone and not subscribe to a data plan? What phone can i get that has calendar/ todo lists syncing capbablites that doesn't require a data plan? Is it too much to ask for a PDA/Cellphone with wifi, that does not need an email/internet package?

I am not a cell phone power user, and actually my wife and I can get by with a minimal amount of minutes on a share plan. I also subscribe (sorta) to the GTD philosophy and have been thinking for sometime to incorporate a PDA into my organization system (calendar, todo lists etc.)

As i am coming due for a phone upgrade, i unfortunately found out that verizon requires a data plan (extra ~$30/mo) to use most all of their pda/smartphones/blackberrys according to verizon and these two links. Mandatory Data Plan and no data plan. The Palm Centro seems like the best candidate, but i played with the phone at the store, and wasn't sold on it, and/or its syncing capabilities. An added bonus would be wifi capabilities. But of upmost importance, is some syncing capabilities, preferably with outlook.

Alternatives to I Want Sandy

dyslexictraveler — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:20:28 -0800

mourning-the-about-to-be-lost-productivity-filter: What alternatives to I Want Sandy can you recommend as far as email reminder services go? Now that the folks behind I Want Sandy have announced that they are shutting her down in two weeks on December 8 (just two weeks!!), I'm about to be stuck in a lurch without a trusted email reminder service.

What alternative services can you recommend that will let me add reminders from within my email software (i.e., gmail calendar reminders don't count, because I can't create those by sending a message, or more importantly forwarding a message from within Mail.app)?

Both free and paid services are fine as long as they are reliable & flexible, and at least somewhat likely not to disappear in the near future.

Come on little brain, you can move!

gmarceau — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:20:02 -0800

Ok, so I am a creative worker. My job is to picks thoughts out of my head. I write, I teach, I prove theorems, I design software. I mean, all these things are the same... it's the harvesting of ideas. So, what do you do when it's dry season? After I walk into the office, I brew the morning coffee and review my GTD «action items» [1]. Then I reply to all my email and touch the golden inbox-zero. After a moment of mediation, during which I renew my belief in the discipline of the 45-minutes blocks of uninterpreted work, I unplug the wifi and set myself in front of the keyboard.

Then... nothing. I have no idea. Quite literally, I have no ideas... my mind is blank. I stay put, staring at the screen, wondering if creative workers (who are not writers) have their own word for «writer's block» [2].

It's not procrastination, although I used to procrastinate. It's not disorganization, although I used to be disorganized. Rather, I find I lack control of the transition from bored to focused. I would be happy with more deadlines and bosses, as these are effective wake-up calls. Unfortunately, bosses and deadlines a rarer in academia [3]. I often find myself planning my entire lecture during the 10 minutes before I walk into class, simply because for the previous two days my mind had been blank.

Writers have many tricks to get their mind going. Indeed, I have read many such lists of tricks when it was my turn to write, and they have been helpful. Also, back when I was a coder this wasn't a problem [4]. My mind is such that, when it came to programming, focus came naturally -- a deep, powerful, and satisfying focus. For other activities, when creativity doesn't come I don't know what to do, or how to react, aside from patience, pithy or panic.

How do you acquire some cerebral velocity? How do unglue a sticky neuron?

[1] I'll admit that some of them are not exactly actionable. Today's list might look like: think about how to generate a trace from a path on a type graph some more, call mom, continue reading War and Peace.
[2] (lambda (x) x's block) perhaps?
[3] Actually, no, I wouldn't prefer having deadlines. I like academia exactly because there are no bosses. However, this does mean I have extra pressure to be self-reliant.
[4] Perhaps you wonder why I don't code anymore.

Help me, I'm a late adopter.

Zarkonnen — Wed, 14 May 2008 03:26:43 -0800

How do I learn new programming languages and start using modern web apps without getting frustrated and angry? So I'm in my mid-twenties and work in IT. I've been watching the last couple of years of exploding creativity on the net - literally millions of blogs, new programming languages, new ideas like twitter, citizen journalism, etcetera.

But lately I've realised that despite being able to see the potential benefits and really actually exciting possibilities of all this new stuff, I grumpily dismiss it and stick to how I've been doing things for the past couple of years. I use email, Java and PHP, and HTML 4.0.1 Transitional. I occasionally write some stuff in my site's news section, but I doubt my completely random ramblings make anyone come back. I'd like to think that I might have some interesting things to say on some topics, but I can't find the time to write about it, and it feels odd to intersperse "here's some photos I took" with "here's a detailed analysis of this political situation". I don't use Ruby Twitter XML Python LISP Quicksilver GTD Podcasts RSS Lifehacks. I don't contribute to wikis, or talk on forums (with the pretty much sole exception of MeFi).

At the same time I'm getting very frustrated with the limits of the tools I do know how to use - Java's verbosity and lack of support for first-class functions is a pain, and I don't like the fact that I'm always the last to hear about everything interesting that happens on the net. I have no coherent systems for making notes or keeping track of appointments or tasks, despite the plethora of Mac programs available for doing just that.

Why is this a problem? Well, I'm not even thirty yet, but I can already feel myself falling behind the times. I don't want to end up as the kind of programmer / person in general who toils away on some legacy project in a little corner, insisting "we've always done it this way" until one day I get fired for being completely superfluous. I want to want to learn new things. I want to be more organised.

So is there a question in all of this? Yes! I want you to tell me how to break out of my rut. Tell me how I can learn about, and start to use, new stuff, despite the two big obstacles I'm about to describe.

Obstacle number one: Why do I dislike new things? To a large part, to be honest, because the people who do use these things and try to promote them really grate on my nerves. Take programming languages: many advocates of new languages (Ruby, I'm looking at you) start off their pitch by pointing out how useless language X (also known as "Java") is, and how using their language allows you to become a massively more enlightened individual. Along the way, there is a strong implication that anyone who still uses language X in 2008 is a hopeless dinosaur. Way to insult your audience.

Number two: I find learning new things really unpleasant. Faced with needing to code a small website, another programmer would say "Cool, a chance to try out this new Python framework, and this AJAX front-end library - no one's ever tried using them together before, but I have a really clever plan involving metaclasses". I say "Well, I don't really want to take too much time on it, so let's code it up in imperative-style PHP 4. It's clunky, it's incredibly verbose, the code is hideous, and errors are hard to track down, but I know how it works and can liberally reuse code from previous projects." Of course, this is a caricature, but the point remains that that other programmer will end up being more productive and motivated than me, perhaps not on this project, but on the next, where I'm still using PHP 4, but the other guy would be using said Python framework (but not the AJAX library, because it turned out to be too buggy).

So why don't I go off and do like the other programmer? Because the framework and the library will have terrible, hard-to-find inconsistent documentatio, bugs that cause the default configuration to fail silently, and creators who have the attitude described in obstacle #1. And here's the crux of the matter: where the other programmer would think "Cool, a challenge! Let's try to get this working." I fly into an impotent rage, cursing the code, its creator, and myself. I will yell at the computer when yet another promising documentation link 404s on me, I will make strangling motions at the screen when it turns out that I installed some package whose name has no vowels on the wrong path, and I will mentally tally every single problem I've had getting the whole thing working. Both the other programmer and I will take about five hours to get the framework up and running, but while that's five hours of joyful problem-solving time for the other guy/gal, it's five hours of fuming at the computer for me, and I'll have a headache at the end. And somewhere along the way I will probably give up and code the thing in PHP 4 or Java, feeling guilty for being a dinosaur.

Much the same happens when the Thing in question isn't a programming language but a website or some organizer/productivity program.

So to the end of not having to look at new things anymore, I now come up with automatic put-downs for every new thing that crosses my path: Ruby's syntax is horrible, Twitter is shallow, XML is verbose, Python is white-space-sensitive, LISP is unreadable, Quicksilver is unstable and obtuse, GTD is for obsessive-compulsives, podcasts are narcissistic, RSS is inefficent and ill-defined and life hacks are impractical. Contributing to wikis is pointless, and all forums are full of 13 year olds.

Still, I want to learn and use new things, because I find them fascinating and recognise their potential. So what techniques, states of mind, resources would you suggest that I could use to approach learning new languages, starting to use new websites, new modes of communication, etcetera, without just coming away pissed off and exhausted?

(And if you've read all of this, congratulations. You get a voucher for small prize, redeemable anywhere on the moon only.)

How should I track my internet usage?

schroedinger — Sun, 11 May 2008 20:41:53 -0800

I'm looking for an application that tracks my software and website usage that is not RescueTime. I'm extremely uncomfortable with the data being transmitted to a website and want something that stores it on my computer, not anywhere else. I've also used MeeTimer, and found it too buggy. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Buying a nicely-made desktop tickler file system

TheManChild2000 — Fri, 09 May 2008 06:18:26 -0800

I am looking for a desktop tickler/pass-forward file system that's really *classy* and well-made from quality materials, not the typical wire-basket-with-manila-folders that most places sell.