If you have a file called todo.txt on your computer, you're in the right place

[adriand]

I've started to feel that todo apps have one major problem: they don't do the work for you. And this is why we're so obsessed with todo apps - we don't really want to do the work, we just want to play around with how we prioritize and organize the work.

In most cases, if we just got a lot of stuff done, we'd have no need for an app, because the list of stuff to do would be rather short.

[chops]

> In most cases, if we just got a lot of stuff done, we'd have no need for an app, because the list of stuff to do would be rather short.

I find quite the opposite: The more things I do, and the more productive I am, the more rapidly things get added to my todo list. It's when I'm less productive that my todo lists stay short.

It's an interesting phenomenon that (at least my) todo lists are effective sticks for the carrot in that the size of the todo list scales with productive output.

[nhebb]

> no need for an app, because the list of stuff to do would be rather short.

For me, one of the keys of a successful todo list is to keep the list short to begin with. A long todo list is too daunting, but a short one is motivating. I write them down on paper instead of using software, which I think just adds a layer of overhead.

[gizmo686]

For me, todo lists remove the mental burden of keeping track of what I need to do in my head, and allow me to easilly shelf a new task without significant interuption to my workflow on the current task. Becuase I am at a computer for almost all of my work, my todo app is just vim, but I don't see why I wouldn't get the same benifit from a proper 'app' if I was at a job without consant access to a computer.

[gurvinder]

I like to use todo lists also for a sense of achievement. When I cross something from my list I feel i got something done, even if it was trivial , it gives me positive energy to get more done. Also I agree that when I am most productive, my list grows instead of shrinking.

[alan_cx]

Brilliant observation.

And of course, every second we twiddle with out todo application, is a second wasted, not spent doing the things on that list.

I cannot believe there is not a proper study somewhere showing that these applications waste more time than they save. Or perhaps the opposite!!!

[gosub]

todo app + fiverr integration?

[idupree]

I started using org-mode for text-based notes/todos recently, even though I wasn't an Emacs user.[1] Org-mode has its own website, and more well-documented features than most programs I use! ( http://orgmode.org/ , manual http://orgmode.org/manual/ )

[1] It's an Emacs mode. I'm using it happily without knowing much Emacs.

[theanalyst]

Agree, Org documentation is very good, and easy for newbies to start as well. Certain features like Org-agenda, export into multiple formats and its ease of note-taking are very good features

[btipling]

I hope more software comes out that use Dropbox for storage. I want an Instagram for Dropbox, a music locker with a player for Dropbox, a Skitch for Dropbox, an Xmarks bookmark sync for Dropbox.

One Password, Hackpad, O'Reilly Media, and now this todo.txt are all doing the right thing and may they be successful for a thousand years. There is no reason I should have to pay Evernote, Apple, Amazon or Google any cloud storage money when I already use Dropbox, and there's no reason why I should have to deal with ads on "free" services either.

[daniel_levine]

I work on Platform at Dropbox and I agree :) We want great developers to build all of these things and I want to help them. Anyone out there please reach out!

[martincmartin]

There is no reason I should have to pay Evernote, Apple, Amazon or Google any cloud storage money...

I use Google tasks and I don't pay any money to Google. On Android I use a freeware 3rd party app (GTasks), works like a charm.

[PJones]

Apps like 1Password sell an app, the online sync can be through whatever service you want, 1Password already got paid.

Evernote/LastPass/Xmarks make their money selling the service, why would they use DropBox instead and essentially put themselves out of business.

Also, didn't Dropbox just buy some music company? Expect music locker based antics soon.

[drivebyacct2]

So you're moving your eggs from someone else's basket to a different someone else's basket.

I don't understand your second paragraph, it just sounds like "I'm entitled" but I don't presume that's what you mean.

[bravura]

I think Workflowy has an amazing approach to this problem (hierarchical, collapsable tree) and I simply wish they added date functionality.

Right now, I can't use it for TODO, and use it only for brainstorming. For TODO, I now use getflow.com

[mistercow]

Workflowy is amazing, and with a couple of small additions (like being able to copy and paste properly) it would be just about perfect.

[achompas]

I just made the jump from todo.txt to Workflowy and paid for pro service within a week. Project hierarchies really seal the deal for me, while todo.txt has a flat layout, even if you organize items by project or context.

[andrewflnr]

I like the idea of Workflowy, but it really needs offline support. I can't even realistically evaluate it without that. Last I heard they were working on it.

[iscrewyou]

Just used Workflowy. THANK YOU! This is what I've been looking for. I have lists on springpad, on Tasks on Android, on IMDB, on a text file, etc. This changes everything.

[aneth4]

There is Checkvist. Not as pretty, but more functional.

I'd also love the ability to attach media and clips in workflowy as I use it for notes and research.

[morphics]

Wow, workflowy is excellent! Thanks for the tip!

[arn]

Same general thrust of Taskpaper, which is another to-do list based on a standard text file format.

- http://www.hogbaysoftware.com/products/taskpaper

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5B3mTuC2Xg

It's what I use for my todo list. This one seems a bit more geeky (cli friendly)

[jrajav]

Surely this is geekier than Todo.txt: https://github.com/davidoc/taskpaper.vim

(I prefer it, in any case)

[mtts]

The idea behind todo.txt is pretty neat, but in its basic form it's missing a few features. Luckily it's easily extendable.

I hacked up (and I do mean hacked up) two python scripts that add two bits of functionality that are essential for me:

- Timed tasks: add a date to a task and when that date rolls around, the task gets assigned top priority.

- Repeating tasks: add a human readable marker to a task that indicates it needs to be repeated every X days and every X days a copy of that task is assigned top priority. Another copy of the task is set to pop up in the set X number of days.

For me, these make the rather simple todo.txt the perfect todo list / note keeping setup. Unfortunately the todo.txt Android app doesn't work with my extensions so I have no use for it (I just look through the txt file in the Dropbox app if I need to see it on the go).

[casca]

I'm loving how the trend now seems to have apps using Dropbox to store my data. Hopefully the next step will be to use a standard self-hosting API (that does not seem to exist yet) for those who are happy to pay for software but want to keep our own data.

[10098]

> will be to use a standard self-hosting API

What about rsync? It's an open protocol that can be used to synchronize data across multiple devices.

[aaronpk]

That would be fantastic! It doesn't seem unreasonable to create an open source project that adheres to the Dropbox API. Then it would just be a matter of getting clients to include a "file sync URL" field in the settings of their apps.

[up_and_up]

Laughed when I saw this post. Since I had just been looking at my TODO file for next steps on a project.

I like being able to include a TODO file in a project, commit it to git and then sync across platforms/machines etc. Low tech, free task management.

[stewbrew]

Well, the last time I tried todo.txt-touch (for android), synchronization didn't really work and I lost information after a few days of trial. Development also seems to have rather stalled. There are only very few commits (other than cosmetic changes) to the git repo while the app feels rather unfinished. So, I don't think, todo.txt changes much in its present form.

[shakeel_mohamed]

I just have a notebook on Evernote called bucket lists. I have notes like: Movies [movies I want to watch] Music [...] Books [...] Shopping list [things to buy online or in-store]

I think the system works well enough for me. After all, the best organizational system is the one that keeps YOU organized - not one that satisfies others.

[tsahyt]

I've just had a look at the CLI functionality. About a year ago I've been looking for something similar and couldn't find anything light enough which just let me add TODOs on the command line. I ended up writing my own in about a hundred lines of Python which implemented the most important functionality. It had no way to filter or anything (that's what grep is for though) but it worked well. By now I have abandoned todo-lists completely after realizing that merely organizing my work won't get the job done. The best way to deal with work is to actually get it done, rather than procrastinate by just thinking about it.

[chimeracoder]

The #1 problem I have with most to-do list applications is that they don't support (or have bad support for) subtasks. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like this is a main feature of todo.txt either....

[gman99]

Google Tasks supports sub-tasks. I use "Tasks" on android for phone sync (weird that android has no native task app to sync with google tasks -- atleast I've not found one)

[mtts]

I've come to the conclusion this isn't actually a problem. If you don't think of your to do list as a tool for organizing projects but merely of a list of things you need to do, you don't actually need sub tasks.

But you do, of course, need to block some time every now and then to take a bird's eye view of where your projects stand.

This works for my, but YMMV of course.

[HorizonXP]

Personally, I started using Steve Losh's t for my tasks recently, and I love it.

http://stevelosh.com/projects/t/

If I ever want/need to, I can always access/modify my tasks file via Dropbox on any machine or phone. But I don't. Fact is, if I'm ever actually doing work, I'm usually on my Chromebook and have access to the terminal. Moreover, that's when I'm actually completing tasks, or adding new ones.

It's honestly a great, simple, no-bullshit system. You should give it a shot.

[ecspike]

I've been using Todo.txt for about 8 months now.

I don't think it's a question of what makes it better that another product but what makes it right for you.

I like the CLI properties of it and the ability to extend it with new features in any language you want.

Entry of new tasks and completion of done ones is really fast. The Android app isn't as beautiful as it could be but it does the job. My hard requirement was that my tool be available on Mac/Linux/Android. Having a Dropbox backed service made that a bit easier.

[nshankar]

I would like to yet see a todo list software that sits on the neck on the user to complete the task he himself has entered. I need an outliner with following abilities: Expected result with a deadline Actions to complete the expected result Next review date/time

The software should pop up in the middle of anything to shout out the action after the review time has expired.

That completes all the to do list software has to offer.

[zaidf]

The iPhone equivalent of Todo.txt for me is the Notes app. Ironically the reason Todo.txt behavior exists is because all the other Todo apps try to be Todo apps, including this one.

Sometimes I just want a blank sheet with no Todo magic. That is why I use Notepad and the Notes app.

[mahesh_rm]

Site is Text [and image and Video] heavy. Download link is down, and it should have much more prominence within the page. I would take down video and produce a minimal page, more in line with a minimal CLI todolist. Bit it looks nice, may really try it out.

[IgorPartola]

I have a TODO.yaml. At my previous job I used to serve it over HTTP to the LAN for my co-workers to see. I don't think many of them used it but I was hoping that we could all do that and then I could have a structured view of what people were working on.

[nshankar]

Todo lists are a great utility for people like me who are obsessed with exploring ideas and forget rudimentary tasks like paying bills

[drewmck]

Nice. I'm wrapping a text-based todo/note taker now. I think there's still a lot of people who use these.