My TODO Solution

Author: Jake Bauer | Published: 2020-07-08

Yesterday I posted about why I don’t think TODO lists or applications are useless. Today, I want to talk about my TODO solution or what I do to keep myself organized.

It all comes down to preferring simplicity over complexity. TODO applications or web tools are very pretty and very easy to synchronize across devices, but they suffer from being cumbersome and awkward to use. I find they get in my way more than they help me usually because of some required format that I have to structure my thoughts in, too many menus and clicks to do simple things, or an interface that has more whitespace than the latest minimalist desk picture on Pinterest.

I prefer to make literal TODO lists in a physical journal or scrap of paper. I have a Leuchtturm1917 A5 DotGrid Traveller’s Notebook with an addiction assortment of fountain pens which I use to keep a physical TODO list.

By “literal TODO lists” I mean just that: a plain list of things to do and appointments to keep with two different shapes of bullets depending on the type of item in the list. The TODO lists in my physical task book follow this format:

Thursday, 1 January, 1970
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
○ Lunch with Brian and Ken @ 12:30
□ Create UNIX time
■ Refill TTY with paper
□ Destroy undergrads in Spacewar!

An empty square □ represents a task that is yet to be completed. A filled in square ■ represents a task that has been completed. Similarly, an empty circle ○ and a filled circle ● represent appointments yet to be attended and appointments which have been attended respectively. My task book is just page after page of days with tasks written like this.

At the beginning of school semesters, I will dedicate four pages (one for each month) to listing out the days of the month so that I can note assignment due dates, midterms, and exams in a single place. If I don’t complete a task written down on one day, I’ll just write down the same task (or what’s left to do for that task) on the next day. Sometimes I write a few days ahead if I want to make sure to remember something that I need to do in the near future.

So, that’s how I stay organized and manage to get things done. No apps, no special formats, just pen and paper. I’m interested in hearing about how other people stay organized and whether or not you use something like a TODO application or just pen and paper. Let me know by sending me an email.

This is my sixty-fourth post for the #100DaysToOffload challenge. You can learn more about this challenge over at https://100daystooffload.com.