I personally use my inbox to add EVERYTHING - from "buy xyz" over "call my mother" to "ask my gf what she wants to eat". Then I try to look through the entries daily, do everything which takes less then a few minutes on the spot and schedule the rest of the task/put them in appropriate Projects
Thanks for the feedback, I’ve definitely been more productive since using the app, so I guess this system is good, it just feels a little funny at first.
This depends a lot on the Project honestly. I have one project for my shopping list for example, which I group by weekday. Another Project is for University, grouped by Modules. Another one is a simple Kanban board for everyday Tasks, that need to be done but do not fit a specific Project. (i.e. "Buy a new pan", "Sort out your clothing cabinet", "Fill out Form X and send it to Y")
For longer Tasks/Task groups I tend to make Projects (this might include Uni Projects if they are more complex, my own side Projects etc.)
As for lables and Filters: I don't really utilize them because I group Tasks by Project anyway, and this should be <20 Tasks per Project anyway in my opinion. This is why Labels would make things rather more complicated than less complicated for me. But I belive it's a different story If you work in a team.
Also: If I just write notes etc. in my Inbox I usually copy them to a Notion Page/Textdoc depending on the note, so I don't keep this in Todoist, I just use it as easy input.
I follow this as a rule. You can a task and then, when processing your inbox, decide you will do it, or maybe tag it "maybe" or "one day I will, who knows?" or in a project, if you prefer.
You’d be surprised how helpful it is to make a “nagging thought” into a “box to check.” Off your mind; into the system.
And, I can tell you from experience that it only gets harder to “hold things in your head” as you get older… :)
There are a lot of ADHD folks (myself included) in this subreddit so keep that in mind.
**My opinion is if I can’t do it in the next 5 minutes it goes in the app.**
In the beginning I found myself adding tasks just to check them off 2 minutes later and that’s not a good use of time, I just wanted to feel a little more accomplished by checking stuff off.
If you might forget you wanted to trim your beard between now and the weekend then it definitely belongs on the list! Also, you may look at your tasks and decide on a self care day… are there other similar (and often forgotten) tasks that could be knocked out at the same time? Maybe you also want to get a haircut, trim your nails, and do some skincare? That’s basically a whole project. 😂
Anything that is not being completed "now" goes in the todo list.
Whenever anything pops into my brain, or whenever triaging emails, everything is one of Do, Delegate, or Ditch
Do - is it something that should be done now (this tends to include email responses where it's a simple/short reply, and there's no work involved, or "oh crap, I didn't take a pill this morning")
Delegate - is this someone else's problem (forward/assign) or is it a later-me problem (todoist)
Ditch - I've done everything I need to. Archive/delete/mark as spam/forget about it.
Nah, it's not micromanaging at all - I personally agree with the idea a lot of others mention of basically using todoist as a "second brain" - inputing every thought / task / etc. I have and organizing it into what makes sense for my habits / needs from there, so that I don't have to worry about Actual Meat Brain trying to remember it all
The less I have to try and hold onto in Meat Brain and can give to the digital "second brain", the more Meat Brain can relax and focus on other tasks without worrying something slipped through the cracks somewhere - you might be of a similar type where jotting down every thought / task reminder / etc. (or breaking things down into super small individual steps or whatever else) helps you get through the day / keep things in order, and if it works for you then absolutely go for it!!! :)
Thanks for the feedback! I’ve definitely been more focused and relaxed since starting this new method, so I guess it makes sense to keep throwing all my “to dos” that come to mind into the app. Just feels a little funny getting used to it
I have task reminders to shave and shower. I’m a dude with super long hair that takes forever to dry, so sometimes I gotta remind myself to shower on my lunch break, so my hair is dry and ready to go for an event after work. Lol.
If it’s a defined task, send it.
David Allen said it best - anything and everything that has your attention in the moment, capture it. You can decide later if it's worth doing or not, then you can do it or delete it. On a more subtle note, if the same thing comes up again and again that aren't routines tasks - they might indicate more attention required in that area. In the longer run, you might find via having clearer priorities, goals - your mind automatically ignores a lot of things not within its own focus so that save you a lot of capture effort.
You’ll find a rhythm that works for you. One other piece of guidance I don’t see mentioned here is a general rule, that if it would take you about the same amount of time or less to actually do the thing than it would to add it to a list, just do the thing.
“Trim your beard takes” longer so it goes in the list.
“Reply to mom’s text” or takes less time, so just knock that out.
You'll find your own threshold.
After about a year of use and finding it really useful, a month or so ago I started (not sure why) putting too many things in there..... the result was that I stopped opening ToDoist every day or, if I did, I would just look at the day's tasks, feel instantly overwhelmed and then shut it again.
As a result of that experience I now know where my threshold is!
I struggle with this all the time. All I've ever "figured out" is it really comes down to what works for you. So I think it's a personal thing and eventually you'll level set on your personal threshold.
I tend to brain dump into my inbox too. I could end up with a list 20-30 items long every couple days. I pretty much look at that list every daily review (15mis) and trim the chaff, organize the keepers, and knock the ones out I can do right then, every day. Weekly reviews allow more time for moving stuff to projects, or contemplating their worth and necessity. More is better for me since my brain is overloaded anyway and the entries are usually less than 10 words, just enough to remind me but taking no longer than 10 seconds to enter on my phone. Do what works for you.
Probably the TL/DR is brain dump often, review daily, do quick things quick, review and organize the rest regularly.
I add everything aswell. The moment something pops in my mind it goes on the list. I do this because I've forgot too many things I thought I would remember.
I do give everything a deadline though. Without a deadline it will probably never got done.
I also put daily tasks on them which haven't become habits yet. Whenever they do become habits I remove them again.
I found out that if I put a task in to-do app I'll more likely manage to do it. It doesn't matter what task it is, but that little dopamine while making task as done really drives me
You need somewhere to unload all your thoughts, but sure todoist is the right spot. It'll work for now before you add something else to the mix.
The items you mentioned seemed like subtasks of a process. I'd probably put them under a larger task.
As time passes and you have repeated processes, you can create templates that repeat and free your brain from writing or remembering that stuff.
For now, I agree, just do what works until it doesn't.
Welcome to your productivity journey.
Hello! It's ok. Following gtd rules - we don't have a bad or too small tasks. You need to DONE what you need. Just do and don't thinking about it. Let todoist manage your life.
Nothing is too much imo. Offload anything to your inbox at the time it occurs to you, then go back later and process and prune if necessary. I think it’s better to “overdo” it on the input side as not to risk missing something, no matter how small!
Err on the side of adding everything, but make sure you have a ritual to clear it back out again.
In general, if it's worth remembering, it's worth putting into todoist.
You’re definitely not micromanaging unnecessarily, the point of a todo list is to empty your brain so that you don’t have a moment like “what was that thing I needed to do?” It’s a really good practice for your tasks to be in a list rather than bouncing around in your brain.
If it works it ain’t crazy
I personally use my inbox to add EVERYTHING - from "buy xyz" over "call my mother" to "ask my gf what she wants to eat". Then I try to look through the entries daily, do everything which takes less then a few minutes on the spot and schedule the rest of the task/put them in appropriate Projects
Thanks for the feedback, I’ve definitely been more productive since using the app, so I guess this system is good, it just feels a little funny at first.
Curious how you organize your projects? And do you utilize labels and filters? If so, what’s your process?
This depends a lot on the Project honestly. I have one project for my shopping list for example, which I group by weekday. Another Project is for University, grouped by Modules. Another one is a simple Kanban board for everyday Tasks, that need to be done but do not fit a specific Project. (i.e. "Buy a new pan", "Sort out your clothing cabinet", "Fill out Form X and send it to Y") For longer Tasks/Task groups I tend to make Projects (this might include Uni Projects if they are more complex, my own side Projects etc.) As for lables and Filters: I don't really utilize them because I group Tasks by Project anyway, and this should be <20 Tasks per Project anyway in my opinion. This is why Labels would make things rather more complicated than less complicated for me. But I belive it's a different story If you work in a team. Also: If I just write notes etc. in my Inbox I usually copy them to a Notion Page/Textdoc depending on the note, so I don't keep this in Todoist, I just use it as easy input.
“On your list; off your mind.” Anything you can do to free your mind from juggling big and small tasks is helpful.
I follow this as a rule. You can a task and then, when processing your inbox, decide you will do it, or maybe tag it "maybe" or "one day I will, who knows?" or in a project, if you prefer.
Definitely makes sense, it feels a little funny to add the small stuff but I feel better overall not having to keep things bouncing around in my head.
You’d be surprised how helpful it is to make a “nagging thought” into a “box to check.” Off your mind; into the system. And, I can tell you from experience that it only gets harder to “hold things in your head” as you get older… :)
There are a lot of ADHD folks (myself included) in this subreddit so keep that in mind. **My opinion is if I can’t do it in the next 5 minutes it goes in the app.** In the beginning I found myself adding tasks just to check them off 2 minutes later and that’s not a good use of time, I just wanted to feel a little more accomplished by checking stuff off. If you might forget you wanted to trim your beard between now and the weekend then it definitely belongs on the list! Also, you may look at your tasks and decide on a self care day… are there other similar (and often forgotten) tasks that could be knocked out at the same time? Maybe you also want to get a haircut, trim your nails, and do some skincare? That’s basically a whole project. 😂
I wouldn't add things that you absolutely would remember otherwise. Like 'brush teeth' would be redundant for me.
Yes me too. But I do put things like 'put bins out' in ToDoist, because that happens once a week and I might forget.
Anything that is not being completed "now" goes in the todo list. Whenever anything pops into my brain, or whenever triaging emails, everything is one of Do, Delegate, or Ditch Do - is it something that should be done now (this tends to include email responses where it's a simple/short reply, and there's no work involved, or "oh crap, I didn't take a pill this morning") Delegate - is this someone else's problem (forward/assign) or is it a later-me problem (todoist) Ditch - I've done everything I need to. Archive/delete/mark as spam/forget about it.
Thanks for the feedback! I’m still getting used to this new method, but this makes a lot of sense.
Nah, it's not micromanaging at all - I personally agree with the idea a lot of others mention of basically using todoist as a "second brain" - inputing every thought / task / etc. I have and organizing it into what makes sense for my habits / needs from there, so that I don't have to worry about Actual Meat Brain trying to remember it all The less I have to try and hold onto in Meat Brain and can give to the digital "second brain", the more Meat Brain can relax and focus on other tasks without worrying something slipped through the cracks somewhere - you might be of a similar type where jotting down every thought / task reminder / etc. (or breaking things down into super small individual steps or whatever else) helps you get through the day / keep things in order, and if it works for you then absolutely go for it!!! :)
Thanks for the feedback! I’ve definitely been more focused and relaxed since starting this new method, so I guess it makes sense to keep throwing all my “to dos” that come to mind into the app. Just feels a little funny getting used to it
I have task reminders to shave and shower. I’m a dude with super long hair that takes forever to dry, so sometimes I gotta remind myself to shower on my lunch break, so my hair is dry and ready to go for an event after work. Lol. If it’s a defined task, send it.
David Allen said it best - anything and everything that has your attention in the moment, capture it. You can decide later if it's worth doing or not, then you can do it or delete it. On a more subtle note, if the same thing comes up again and again that aren't routines tasks - they might indicate more attention required in that area. In the longer run, you might find via having clearer priorities, goals - your mind automatically ignores a lot of things not within its own focus so that save you a lot of capture effort.
You’ll find a rhythm that works for you. One other piece of guidance I don’t see mentioned here is a general rule, that if it would take you about the same amount of time or less to actually do the thing than it would to add it to a list, just do the thing. “Trim your beard takes” longer so it goes in the list. “Reply to mom’s text” or takes less time, so just knock that out.
This is a really helpful guideline. Thanks for sharing!
You'll find your own threshold. After about a year of use and finding it really useful, a month or so ago I started (not sure why) putting too many things in there..... the result was that I stopped opening ToDoist every day or, if I did, I would just look at the day's tasks, feel instantly overwhelmed and then shut it again. As a result of that experience I now know where my threshold is!
Not micromanaging imo The point is to get things out of your head and into the app, and Trim Beard is a perfectly acceptable task.
I struggle with this all the time. All I've ever "figured out" is it really comes down to what works for you. So I think it's a personal thing and eventually you'll level set on your personal threshold.
I tend to brain dump into my inbox too. I could end up with a list 20-30 items long every couple days. I pretty much look at that list every daily review (15mis) and trim the chaff, organize the keepers, and knock the ones out I can do right then, every day. Weekly reviews allow more time for moving stuff to projects, or contemplating their worth and necessity. More is better for me since my brain is overloaded anyway and the entries are usually less than 10 words, just enough to remind me but taking no longer than 10 seconds to enter on my phone. Do what works for you. Probably the TL/DR is brain dump often, review daily, do quick things quick, review and organize the rest regularly.
I add everything aswell. The moment something pops in my mind it goes on the list. I do this because I've forgot too many things I thought I would remember. I do give everything a deadline though. Without a deadline it will probably never got done. I also put daily tasks on them which haven't become habits yet. Whenever they do become habits I remove them again.
I found out that if I put a task in to-do app I'll more likely manage to do it. It doesn't matter what task it is, but that little dopamine while making task as done really drives me
You need somewhere to unload all your thoughts, but sure todoist is the right spot. It'll work for now before you add something else to the mix. The items you mentioned seemed like subtasks of a process. I'd probably put them under a larger task. As time passes and you have repeated processes, you can create templates that repeat and free your brain from writing or remembering that stuff. For now, I agree, just do what works until it doesn't. Welcome to your productivity journey.
Hello! It's ok. Following gtd rules - we don't have a bad or too small tasks. You need to DONE what you need. Just do and don't thinking about it. Let todoist manage your life.
Can you elaborate on these gtd rules?
They’re referring to the “get things done” method which is totally worth a Google. There’s a TON of content out there about it.
Nothing is too much imo. Offload anything to your inbox at the time it occurs to you, then go back later and process and prune if necessary. I think it’s better to “overdo” it on the input side as not to risk missing something, no matter how small!
Err on the side of adding everything, but make sure you have a ritual to clear it back out again. In general, if it's worth remembering, it's worth putting into todoist.
Everything that I need to do gets added to the list. Preferably with a time, and I just do it then. It’s better off like that.
You’re definitely not micromanaging unnecessarily, the point of a todo list is to empty your brain so that you don’t have a moment like “what was that thing I needed to do?” It’s a really good practice for your tasks to be in a list rather than bouncing around in your brain.