Ask HN: What todo app do you use?

4 points by messutied 3 years ago | 6 comments

I’m looking to replace my physical notebook daily todo lists (I know there’s something unique about physically checking tasks out on a notebook, but sometimes is not so practical so I want a good digital alternative). Is there an app out there that is really up to the challenge?

My flow is as follows:

For each day I write the date and the tasks I really want to tackle that day.

I also have a “week” box at the side with things I really want to tackle that week but don’t have a fixed day yet.

When on a given day I can’t get to a task I will put a down arrow next to it to signal it should go on the next day, then on the next day I re-write it (this would be nicely automated in an app).

Similar happens with “this week’s” tasks.

I’ve been using Apple notes for a while when my physical notebook is not at hand, is fine for the most part but not ideal.

The features that’d make an app the perfect candidate are:

1. You can with one click start writing the tasks for TODAY 2. Same as the above for the tasks of the week 3. Tasks not done are automatically carried over to the next day/week, with a label showing how many times it’s been delayed 4. Tasks can be dragged and dropped between today and this week 5. Done tasks can be hidden or showed with a label showing when they were marked as done

Let me know if you know of an app that has these features, if you’d be interested in building such an app, or if you’d be interested in using such an app.

minhmeoke 3 years ago |

Google Docs:

You can use Insert > Building Blocks > Meeting Notes, or build a template manually:

1. Create a heading for each day and insert the current date using @today

2. Add a checklist under the heading https://www.howtogeek.com/733363/how-to-create-a-checklist-i...

3. Add @today for each item when you insert it into the list (eg: a first created date). If you'd like the actual delta in days, you might need to write a function using apps script: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/47545080/calculating-dif...

4. Optionally add a recurring calendar invitation (I called mine "Current Week") at the beginning of every week and Insert > Smart Chips > Calendar Event.

5. If you'd like to customize names, you can optionally create calendar events from Sheets: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/59167098/create-calendar...

6. Optionally build a table of contents which you can toggle in the side-bar

The end result looks something like this: https://imgur.com/gallery/oE866AM

mejutoco 3 years ago |

I use todoist to schedule actions (not a calendar block that a meeting will happen, but a "do x" event at a specific date and time)

For notes I use Obsidian, which results in plain Markdown files that I can backup. It has a daily plugin that creates a file for today. It also has a good vim mode and a lot more.

I wrote about these and other tools and how I use them here: https://mejuto.co/productivity-tools-and-services-i-use/

disadvantage 3 years ago |

I use Standard Notes[0] and use tags to categorize my notes/TODOs. Heard great things about Obsidian[1] too, although it seems a bit overkill for my needs.

I don't really have a 'flow'. I don't beat myself up if I don't complete everything on the list, and usually the super-hard stuff is just taken off the list for being too hard!

[0] https://standardnotes.com/

[1] https://obsidian.md/

jethronethro 3 years ago |

I keep it as simple as possible: my daily task list in a text file open in a tab in a text editor. I also have a master task list of what I need to do in the week, which I use to populate the next day's text file.

A text file doesn't have all the bells and whistles, the integration, the alarms and alerts that a lot of todo list apps have, but it keeps me focused and works for me. And that's all that matters.

aprdm 3 years ago |

I use gedit on Linux , sometimes I have multiple files, sometimes a long one … what I don’t need I delete

drakmail 3 years ago |

I use similar flow with notion