I tried every todo app and ended up with a .txt file

Reading through the comments under this thread, there are many users who swear by a plain text file, but who then build quite a lot of snowflake software to regain functionality offered by more structured TODO applications. That includes:

- having your computer alert you to things that come up

- being able to tag notes

- being able to add events to a calendar

- being able to set priority of tasks

- expecting prioritized/currently relevant tasks to be at the top of the agenda

- being able to add recurring tasks

- full-text search (grepping)

- formatting features (markdown)

Some of the laborious (or, in my opinion, plain unholy) solutions include:

- feeding TODOs to an LLM to filter for the currently relevant ones and send Telegram notifications

- hand-copying currently relevant tasks to the top of the TODO list

- running a script on a VPS to sync notifications

- set up cron job with git commit

- writing post-it notes by hand

I would encourage everyone to try out emacs with org-mode. It takes some time to get used to the editor and its keybindings (though provisions exist for vim users), but _every_ item on the list above is handled out of the box, or is offered through a free and maintained plugin.

The author of the OP claims to have tried _every_ todo app, and has afterwards moved (regressed?) to writing notes in a plain text file, but there is a path extending from this point that the author has not walked yet. I strongly suggest that, especially for people with a computing or technical background, it is an undisputed upgrade. https://doc.norang.ca/org-mode.html being the bible, of course.

  ```txt SMS from :mtn-E303-sms-server
  -------------------------
    PROJECT: ppc-v.1.0
  -------------------------
     Commits: 3
     New Features Added!
     Bugs Squashed
     Code Cleaned Up
  -------------------------
    Total XP: +150
    Keep it up! 
  -------------------------
  ```

I have a very simple todo list, it's essentially the same every day! - check mail - check calendar - check jira - check azure devops board - check Microsoft Tasks - check confluence - check Teams - check home calendar - check home e-mail - check signal - check whatsapp - check client e-mail - check client jira - renew prescription for benzos

I use Apple Notes and Reminders for work.

- Reminders: I just have a few simple lists: TODO, WIP, and BLOCKED (for stuff I'm waiting on others for).

- Notes: I keep daily, weekly, and monthly notes. At the end of each day, I clean up my daily note and move anything important to the weekly one, and then do the same into monthly.

There is a format called todo.txt that works follows very readable syntax (like your own example) and has some minimal bells and whistles if you want it to: http://todotxt.org/

As an alternative: I started using org-mode 5 years ago and have never looked back. This is my workflow (https://karelvo.com/blog/orgmode) although I sync it via Git now, and have an iPhone where I use Plain Org (https://xenodium.com/plain-org-for-ios).

I've been back and forth on that topic, going to paper and back to a todo manager of some sort.

For the past few years I've been using obsidian for all my note taking, and none of the extensions I tried did what I wanted, so I built myself one[^1]. The initial goal was to take todos right within my notes, so I could keep the context of what the todo was about. Then I started adding stuff like planification and tagging. So it's entirely text based, but with a planner UI on top of it that makes it easy to drag and drop stuff to when I want to do them, and plan my day accordingly.

I think the more you go, the more you get set in your own ways, the harder it is to tag along on someone else's implementation of a system.

Low tech like paper and text files are good because they're maleable, and dont embed stuff you don't actually need.

^1: https://obsidian.md/plugins?id=proletarian-wizard

I host my own wall calendar. There is an annual subscription cost, but it's so cheap I don't notice. I hacked it together with thumbtack 1.0 and Bic Crystal a very long time ago. Others have used it and find the interface extremely intuitive. Localization is supported. I even have pencil support. If things become tentative, we can switch over to it seamlessly. When I have a todo item, I input it onto the day and time that works best. Highly recommended.

I'm a fan of Org Mode with Emacs [0] and using the app BeOrg [1] on my iPhone.

I have 3 main task files:

- todo.org for things I need to do

- backlog.org for things that I don't have to do now but should do in the future

- inbox.org for any random ideas or notes

The concept of an Inbox was taken straight from Getting Things Done [2].

I have different searches set up in BeOrg so that it is easy to view tasks from each different file.

This is definitely more complicated than a single file, but I like it mainly because it keeps my main task file (todo.org) organized. I also don't go through organizing my files that much either.

inbox.org is just a great place to dump anything, so I usually do a quick scan and either delete everything or refine it to the backlog.org.

For backlog.org, I'll usually just let things sit there and build up. After a while I'll realize that if something has been there for a long time, it probably isn't worth doing - or I already did it, so I delete it.

[0]: https://orgmode.org/

[1]: https://www.beorgapp.com/

[2]: https://hamberg.no/gtd

Good man. Everyone eventually reaches the same year zero: a text file.

Then adds structure back, as it suits their persona. Not too much, not too little, just right - goldilocks. It's very personal, even more than a smartphone.

For me - $ githome add logBook to git $HOME solves versioning and replication:

giho() { (cd "$HOME" && git --git-dir="$HOME"/.githome/ --work-tree="$HOME" "$@";) } # prior must $ git init --bare $HOME/.githome

And in the logBook structure currently at:

1. Sections FIXME, TODO, DONE, DONTDO. Keep them vi searchable /^SECTION$.

2. Entry start searchable /^-(space).

3. Entry end separator from next is empty line searchable /^$.

4. New items add at the top, push old items down.

5. Items move wholesale, no change on between sections move.

6. Items spending too long in TODO moved into DONTDO.

7. No new items added in TODO if FIXME is not empty.

8. If really really need to add to TODO - then move blocking FIXME entries to TODO.

9. Above are rules of thumb - break them with a reason, don't break them without reasons.

sigh

I've done the text file thing, and it’s fine. Up to a (very small) point.

What the author describes as their “workload” barely registers.

For context, for me, Things on any given day has over 100 individual actions, most of which are recurring.

By doing this, I can stay on top of an extremely broad surface area. There is no way a text file can handle the number of parallel work streams my (or really many) people have.

Broadly, for me these work stream are:

* Self Care

* Relationship

* Children

  * Special Needs (IEP, SSI, Conservatorship, GGRC, Medical, Special Needs Trust, etc)

* Friends

* Professional (BD, etc)

* Investments (Real Estate, Angel Investments, SEP, etc)

* Legal (LLCs, Litigation, Wills, etc)

* Financial (Quarterly and Annual Taxes in 2 countries, Insurance, etc)

* Home (Massive)

* Hobbies

* Vehicles

Without a serious amount of structure in the form of my todo system, there’s no way a person could manage this - certainly not with a text file.

Calendars very rapidly fall down for scheduled tasks that you can’t knock out the day of, they lack reminder functions, etc.

I spent my 20s searching for the perfect todo solution but my search ended when I discovered org-mode. It's not that I'm the most productive person you'll meet, it's just that there's nothing further to look for. Should I decide to be my productive self for a while, I know org-mode will support me and not stand in my way :)

Oh, and I love the Denote package.

Try as I might, the best to-do/task list I can come up with is a legal pad. Mixed with notes of the day for meetings or ad-hoc remembering-of-things.

Closest to that is a .txt file in my specific format, but even that is not quite as good.

The days/weeks I can maintain discipline with a legal pad are much more productive. It works well if you work out of an office or a single location, but breaks down quickly if you are moving around.

A notebook is a close second, just not quite as easy to go page through quickly to figure out wtf you were doing 3 weeks ago or find that one note you're pretty sure you have but not quite sure where or when.

I've tried pretty much every electronic form out there, but have never been able to maintain it. The Remarkable 2 comes the closest, but I've found it tends to be very much "write only" compared to a legal pad. Hard to go through it and reference past notes quickly.

Then, finally you reach the last layer: a 4" x 6" notepad and pen that are always kept at your desk

I believe todo apps run into the challenge that "to do" is way too broad a concept. Personally I track in-progress tasks (on a giant roll of paper), recurring and schedule tasks (especially where I coordinate with my spouse; on a dedicated Skylight smart-calendar), long term ideas and goals (as issues in a dedicated GitHub repo), meeting follow-ups (as .txt), groceries (on scrap paper), etc. The UX I want for each of these is quite different so I've never been able to make a generic todo app work. Worse, I'd hate to accidentally see my work list when I'm trying to do housework as I'm liable to start a side quest. So I need dedicated tools for each type of list.

The problem with productivity apps is that one size does not fit all. Everyone has radically different goals, constraints, interests, and workflows. Many people would benefit from having a "living" app that is personalized to their tastes, and also adapts over time as the characteristics of your life change (e.g. having kids is probably going to change your approach to productivity!)

I recommend finding a framework within which to build your own apps, and then building your own suite of apps that have exactly the features you want (shameless plug, I built a platform that can serve as such a framework : WebWidgets.io. It is basically a way to hook up SQLite databases to JS objects in the browser, which allows wide liberty to build your own simple custom apps).

I went through something similar. I do use Logseq now, but for many, many years I found a notes.txt or todo.txt file in my home directory to be an excellent solution. I typically just write the date at the top of the file and put the notes underneath. A huge benefit is that I can trivially keep these under git. I keep them in my dotfiles repo so they can be easily synchronized to all my devices. A couple of shortcuts makes it quite fluid:

A bash alias so I can run `todo` and have the file open:

    alias todo='nvim "$HOME/.todo.txt"'

Some vim config so I can run `\date` (from either insert mode or normal mode) and it will print a date line for me:

    inoremap <Leader>date <C-r>=trim(system('date "+%a %B %e, %Y %H:%M:%S %p"'))<CR>                                                                                                                                                              
    nnoremap <Leader>date :put=trim(system('date \"+%a %B %e, %Y %H:%M:%S %p\"'))<CR><ESC>

One useful addition for text file users: on Windows, create hotkey\macro timestamps using something like Autohotkey (https://autohotkey.com/)

3 letter hotkeys seem to work well - long enough to be unique without overlapping real words.

for instance, when I type ddd it automatically stamps this:

20250811 10:57 AM

then I type my note and can look back at what time\date it was.

sometimes I just need the date so that is dds (date-date-short) which gives

20250811

occasionally I just want the time so that's ttt

11:02:02 AM

I have many other 3 letter codes using Autohotkey to bring in frequently typed things too, useful in emails and such.

Since I think through typing, autohotkey has been a QoL helper.

I use Todoist in a very light weight fashion. I add tasks and they sit on my screen until they're done, basically identical to a text file. I've never used the points, projects, labels, etc.

It does one thing a text file struggles at: scheduling recurring tasks and adding notes to a recurring task. I have annual reminders for infrequent, but important stuff. For example, I have a recurring annual task to review my insurance. Each year, I add context and details that are easily forgotten. Then, when the reminder comes up next year, I can refresh my memory and complete the task quickly.

I've came to a very similar conclusion. Productivity SaaS apps feel exciting to get started but eventually I've abandoned them all. I feel that many others have similar experiences but I'm not exactly sure why. Like the author, I too ended up with a plain text format (org-mode) and I've happily been on it for 7 years. Some questions that came to mind:

- Is it the artificial hype and promises around certain productivity apps (e.g. youtube notion promoters) that ultimately leave one disappointed?

- Does the productization of these apps make the companies feel compelled to change too much, thus alienating users? Is this why Apple notes has such a following, since it's not a monetized product of apple?

- Is the allure of plain text the fact that it doesn't change, analogous to something written on paper?

Sounds to me like you need something simple and quick. If the current system works for you I would suggest to keep using it. If you ever feel like you need something better I would recommend trying microsoft todo or google tasks. Google Tasks syncs with your google calendar so it's a bit more powerful. Apart from them both a pretty simple. If you are looking for something even simpler take a look at google keep. This is what I use personally.

After trying text files and other apps, I wrote my own about ten years ago and have been using it ever since. ( https://famplan.io - I'm starting to turn it into something other people might use.)

I tend to agree with the idea that simpler is better, but a single text file wasn't quite enough. I like being able to see my lists on multiple devices, I tend to like to have multiple lists for different purposes, and it's also very useful to have shared lists for coordinating with my family and others.

The experience of using this has taught me a few things about how to use these lists effectively:

1. Using a list is like writing a journal - you need to be intentional about explicitly working to make it part of your routine. (Part of this is committing to record tasks that need to be done and then committing in some explicit way to actually doing those things.)

2. It needs to be fast, it needs to be easy, and it needs to be present. Anything else gets in the way of point 1.

3. It's important to track when you need/want to do, but lists of things to do can be overwhelming. (It's useful to have at least a few ways to ignore items when you can't or don't want to deal with them. I handle this by having multiple lists, and also having a snooze feature to ignore items for a while.)

4. You need to have a way to handle items or tasks that go on for a while. (You need to make a call, but have to leave a message, and are waiting for a callback... etc. These are places where you need to take action to push something along, but the action doesn't result in a complete task, so you need to revisit it later.)

This is going to sound odd coming from someone who wrote a tool for the purpose, but the key here is really to pick a system (any system) and then actually use it. Spend too much time developing the system, then all you've done is give yourself something else to do.

I totally wrote my own TODO system. It's actually quite featureful, and it works as a command-line program that stores its data in a human-readable text file. And can produce graphs. Admittedly, it's more of a time-tracking system with an attached TODO list than anything else, and it doesn't pop up reminders for anything - I have an annoying calendar for that instead. Maybe one day I'll pop it on github and see if anyone else likes it.

Shameless plug: I built [1] and use a small magit like interface on top of org-mode.

I love org for all its bells and whistles and use them in various ways. But most of the time I need a small subset of org in a form-factor that allows ease of use.

[1] https://github.com/ChanderG/toodoo.el

For short term tasks (task-cache) I have ended up with essentially the same thing, just using *.md file + Notepad++ because of markdown syntax highlighting + snappiness of Notepad++ and I can then see it as a webpage using Markdown Viewer extension on Firefox.

For structured documentation of my projects + searching + writing notes down on the go via phone I am using Joplin.

For tasks to be done on a specific date I have calendar

For project management I have Redmine behind VPN so I can get on it from anywhere.

I'm also a fan of the minimalist approach, having settled on a combination of Notes app and temporary paper lists. When I'm feeling overwhelmed and really need to knock out some tasks, nothing beats pencil and paper for me.

I recently came across the Analog product from Ugmonk and I love it. It's basically just a dedicated little wood holder for you desk, and different types of cards. I use the blank lined cards.

https://ugmonk.com/collections/analog

I made a dumb command-line tool that sends a 1-line email to my work email or to my personal email. The tool is in my PATH on 2 computers. I use paper when I'm not at my computer and I have small pen and small paper with me at all times. Occasionally I send texts to my email address. I'm considering giving this tool to my coworkers.

I have a draft of a similar post to this one about lists https://gist.github.com/breadchris/683202bffd4463e517335ab3f...

A few years back a friend approached me with an idea to track todos in Google Calendar directly by adding #todo to event titles. If you don't mark them as done they will roll forward to the next day. We ended up shutting it down as a product, but I recently vibe coded it back as a Google Apps Script so it's free to run on your own. It works super well for people who live off of their calendar - https://github.com/slackpad/hashtagtodo-redux.

i like text files for day to day lists that are easily discarded. what am i trying to do for work today, who do i need to call, other reminders

for longer term planning i’ve found todoist to be indispensable. UI and features haven’t changed much in years, great cross platform, pretty enable to different styles of planning, etc

I like the "dopamine hit" of changing a task from TODO to DONE that comes from colors. I use this very simple vim syntax file for that :)

syntax match TODOKey "TODO"

syntax match DONEKey "DONE"

syntax match BLCKKey "BLCK"

syntax match MAYBKey "MAYB"

syntax match Comment "\/\/.*$"

hi def link TODOKey DiagnosticWarn

hi def link DONEKey Type

hi def link BLCKKey DiagnosticError

hi def link MAYBKey Constant

hi def link Comment Comment

I find it most interesting that despite Notions appeal and fanbase, it continues to lead to failure of this function. I am one of those who has built not just one, but two two apps for this! But, for todo management, I still use a Notes file (.txt on iOS is hard). I suspect that the upcoming integration with AI/calendar in iOS 26 will make it less appealing to me however, because it will take away the control and simplicity of managing things myself manually.

Same. I use Apple Notes. I have a few notes pinned (regular work, creative work, self-education, travel, chores). I write tasks. Break them up into small tasks with indents. Pick a task from the pool and execute. "Regular Work" tasks get priority. But if I'm not feeling it, I move to the other ones. Once I finish a task, I delete it/replace it with next steps. Nothing fancy. No formatting except for indentation. Been crushing it.

But I will add, there is no right way to do things in life in general. Experiment, and do what works for you.

https://workflowy.com is the closest to a text file I've used and that's why I like it. It's like a text file that is synchronized between all your devices and lets you collapse nested bullet lists. That's enough for me.

I just switched to printing my todo tasks on a receipt printer. I have an arduino connected to a receipt printer and a Python script that can send commands to the arduino to print tasks. Also just finished adding barcode scanning so the task gets printed with a barcode and I use an iOS Shortcut to mark the task as complete. Actually works so well! Having the tasks in physical form helps me stay more focused and scanning the barcode to mark a task as complete feels so satisfying. I have the code if anyone wants to delve into this but it does require arduino + receipt printer + a TTL to RS232 module, though! And BPA-free receipt paper if you are concerned about that.

Suggestion for Android: Tasks — I’ve been using this (free) to-do list, planner and reminders app for probably more than ten years now, mostly as a shopping list app. Be aware that there are other apps with very similar names and icons.

https://mytasksapp.com/

cheers

Interesting here the author states

> Things 3: Beautiful. Expensive. Tricked me into thinking I had my life together. But I kept forgetting to check it.

Followed by

> The Secret Sauce… Checking the list regularly…

Productivity really doesn’t need “solving”.

The problem is procrastination.

It’s quite ironic the amount of time people sink into these productivity methods and apps. Almost like it was yet another form of procrastination…

There was a curses-based todo program that was totally awesome MANY years ago, source code posted to usenet I believe back in the day, but I have never been able to find it again. Anyone have a pointer?

After using Evernote for 10 years and seeing what they did to it, I'm never switching from plain txt/md files for notes and todos. For simple and daily todos, I just use iPhone notes (They don't have anything long-term or important, and the sync is nice).

For the rest, I just use plain files that are encrypted locally and stored on GitHub and Google Drive.

I strongly believe using just a plain text files or overly basic tools makes your life more complicated, not less. I get a tonne of value out of OmniFocus

> “But what about mobile?” - The file syncs through Dropbox

Yup now you have to handle conflicts, or keep in mind which device you last edited on

> I use my calendar for time-specific stuff

Cool, the app I use just has a due date field that reminds me. I don't want the thing spread out over multiple places. I don't need to check my calendar every night for due dates and then add them to my list because it's already.. in my list.. with due dates..

> It’s searchable

Kind of? For basic searches I guess.. and only on a computer. Searching plain text files on mobile is hell

They seem to be inventing problems and then implementing a solution that doesn't actually solve them. Kept forgetting to check Things? How does a plain text file solve that?

The only note taking app I've been able to use is "Reflect" (https://reflect.app/) because it gives me a calendar view and allows linking with tags and backlinks. Plus it's encrypted and I can always export my notes.

The only downside is that it's only on OSX/IOS but the webapp is good enough for my use cases.

I tried a bunch of todo apps, task trackers etc and also tried a txt file. None of it really worked for me. I tried bullet journals, I couldn’t stick to it.

What did end up working for me is a clipboard with a sheet of paper that I replace every few days. I write my todo list on it and I cross done tasks off in red marker. I guess it’s kinda like the bullet journal but even more lite.

The pinnacle of notes and task lists was achieved in 1997 by the Palm Pilot. It’s been downhill ever since. I realize some people need or want something more integrated and elegant, but simple really does suffice for the vast majority of cases.

My journey has been identical, and I have a suspicion that this inability to use an app with bells and whistles might have something to do with ADHD.

I actually ended up making an app as a side project which is just todo.txt with one extra feature: if you start a line with a "!", it turns that line to a push notification on your lock screen. just keeps the important things in your list just a bit closer to awareness without overwhelming

https://www.whatistoday.net/2024/06/scratch-paper-minimal-mo...

I just use Google Keep Note as my todo app. You don't need anything complex than that. I call my notes as DeathNotes where tasks go to die i.e. finish.

Too much organization never helps, I've learned this with both note taking and with todo apps.

My workflow with ticktick is largely based on having all my to-dos in one "next actions" list. Tags are the one feature I can't throw away though, most of my to-do lists is tagged with a project name. My day to day view of Ticktick is usually some tag

Markdown on Obsidian is a prestine setup. Can be used to embed many file types; media, documents, code snippets, graphs, ... all this can be linked and this unlocks so much context. Being able to sync that; My 2nd hand Lenovo running Linux and my Samsung S20 Phone.

I am a tech creative and this is one of my vice. Having a todo is an opportunity to go through your experiences for clarity.

└── Dev well

I use TickTick.

I saw the author tried it but didn’t actually write about it under “What Actually Happened With Each App”

I use TickTick over Todoist and other apps because it’s basically a .txt file dump for me, but with notifications and reoccurring tasks /shrug

I also do the text file thing. I use EditPad Pro. The only additional thing I've done is create syntax coloring in any file named 'tasks-*.txt'.

I added simple things like: - Color anything ending in a ? green, so when looking at a list of notes, so I know where the questions were. - Any line beginning with an all caps word is highlighted (e.g. TODO: ) - Any line ending in a : is highlighted light blue (e.g. title) - Any Line Containing "Error" is red

I do suppose I could be using Markdown, but I've had this going for 20 years now.

This flies a bit in the face of the author's "The sync breaks. The company sells out and dies" point and the simple beauty of a text file. I find that Obsidian.md is just one step above a text file.

Simple daily notes, which are automatically organized into year and month folders. (Tip: Set the date format to YYYY/YYYY-MM/YYYY-MM-DD)

The Sync feature works great, but no reason you couldn't do this with just git on your own.

Plenty of built-in features (Plugins, ToDos, etc...)

Cross platform apps.

Markdown

Free. The sync feature is $4/month. Worth it for me.

They also have a one-time $25 payment to get early access to beta versions and a VIP discord channel.

This is what I do with my "Daily Brain Dump". I use Apple Notes bc it syncs up nicely with my phone. Every day I add a new entry to the top of the note. Mix of TODO's and a journal. Actually have two files, one for my life in general and one for work.

On similar note, I tested every grocery list app and ended up with papers and pencil

I made my own. I needed to have a calendar that showed every todo item per day, and a text editor to edit the tasks just like in a todo.txt. Used it all day every day for over 15 years. I still have it installed on nearly all my Win systems, just because it opens instantly, has priority and colors. I also used it to produce reports for work, so I eventually added export options for HTML to paste directly into an email.

https://github.com/DexterLagan/todo-master

If you live in VS Code there is a notes plugin that lets you create and manage Markdown notes in the sidebar. I usually create one note per repo and then pin the tab in that repo. If you work on a lot of projects it is a great way to segregate your todos by project so you don’t get overloaded. I also have a todo folder that has multiple notes pinned (today, scratchpad and long term notes) that I keep open in my main workspace window. It works for me, YMMV.

I send an email to myself. Monday todo, Tuesday todo etc..

I use a pretty similar setup. At the beginning of my day when I get to my desk at work I open a new .txt and enter all the tasks I'm currently working on (copied from the last day). I then mark them as completed or leave notes as needed. Works perfectly for me - no need for anything more fancy.

I've had a plain TODO.txt file for over 20 years so I agree with all the benefits the author mentioned. However, I don't like it because without an app, there's no runtime loop to notify and alert me of what's coming up.

This means I don't have "ambient awareness" of what's going on unless... I open the TODO.txt file ... manually scan it... then rescan it again and again multiple times per day. It's really tedious and inefficient to manually re-read the same items again. Offloading repetition like that is what computers are good for. I just don't have a good app at the moment to turn my TODO.txt into something I don't have to manually eyeball all the time.

So even though I have a tasks in my TODO.txt, a lot of things still falls through the cracks because I forget I need to do them.

If you have the type of brain that has a built-in "6th sense" of tasks that need to get done, a lightweight-no-runtime TODO.TXT will work fine for you. But it's definitely inadequate for me and I need to fix that.

EDIT replies to "use calendar for reminders" : Yes, that's a workaround but I've resisted doing that because I wanted the utopia of my TODO.TXT file being the Single-Source-Of-Truth instead of manually copying items to Google Calendar. (Yes, I know that "perfection is the enemy of the good" and all that.) The way other people do it is they make Google Calendar itself the SSOT. But that defeats the purpose of the freeform flexibility of the TODO.TXT that has all the notes, etc in addition to tasks.

I want my TODO.TXT to be a unified view of everything I want to do in life and splitting some items off into Google Calendar is just more digital housekeeping I wanted to avoid.

The way I'd prefer to use Google Calendar is via the developer API to programmatically add entries that's based off of my TODO.TXT. E.g. : (https://developers.google.com/workspace/calendar/api/guides/...)

... but that requires an active runtime loop ... like a Python script constantly scanning my TODO.TXT and then automatically populating the Google Calendar. I just haven't gotten around to coding that yet. Yes, the irony is that meta-task to enhance my TODO.txt is already in my TODO.txt.

New todo apps have absolutely amazing UIs because people think the frustration of todo apps has to do with the UI. The thing is YOU WANT FRICTION in your todo app. There is something rewarding and satisfying about a UX where you've accomplished a task and you get to check it off.

The perceived holy grail of todo apps is the one that automatically creates tasks and then checks them off when we complete the task with zero interaction. This is wrong.

I swear by Mindmapping Applications (e.g. Xmind, Mindmanager) - one file every month (extractable with a python library for LLM evaluation).

One top-level branch is a prioritized Inbox with a Pending branch at the top (Item half-completed, but awaits external action, e.g. an order has to arrive).

One top-level branch with Done, which is a folder with a branch for each week, then day, where I dump completed items into

One top-level branch for ongoing subscriptions with alerts

Collapsed top-level branches for Hobbies and Family Ideas and things-to-do

With xmind, you can easily tag the task progress of each item.

Took me 8 years, including a really beautiful Android ToDo Concept which I build and ended up abandoning :D

Shameless plug of my journey of logging diary/todos:

I had tried a diary script that does the simple act of opening today's diary in vim: https://github.com/Aperocky/diaryman

Once things became overwhelming, it was less trackable across time and became messy - so I created tascli: https://crates.io/crates/tascli to centrally manage tasks and records with sqlite in a CLI app.

Think I'm in a sweet spot now having both of these minimal version logging - the lack of functionality is exactly why they are great.

The only thing that ever really worked for me is taskwarrior.org. It is super easy to get started and can be made more sophisticated as you. I live in the terminal most of the time anyway so that makes it a natural fit.

you are forgetting the most goat/clutch better than .txt - pen on back of hand :) (being completely serious/earnest here. great article, read thru the whole thing. same experience, tho i do love things), but ultimately back to my tried true high school days, timeless, eternal: WRITE IT ON THE BACK OF YOUR HAND THEN WASH IT OFF

I had the same problem and then built https://crom.ai/

—> htts://app.crom.ai/register

Side project - so don’t really actively market it, but it’s been my daily driver for over a year now

I record stuff I want to have around in TXT files, by week every week over 10 years. The files lived on OneDrive for a time, but now on my desktop, backed up daily. Advantage is I can search.

My to-do list was sticky notes forever, moved to new ones when the old was getting too worn out to read. Now it's Rite notebooks as needed.

In my case, I ended up using a simple note in Apple Notes, for each month/quarter, having a collapsible day heading and just adding tasks there. Bold indicates a bit of a higher priority, and I can move things that I don't complete from previous days.

For personal stuff I ended up with https://mytasksapp.com/

It's simple enough for me to understand but has the following features I want:

nice simple UI where I can add stuff without too many clicks

syncs between phone and browser (requires $1.49/mo which I'm fine with)

Can make multiple lists

Can drag items around in the list

Can add a longer description and reminders

For tech side projects I use GitHub issues as TODO/wish lists

For work I use a Google Doc to plan out the days tasks and meetings (similar to todo.txt). Google docs is really nice for this because I can collapse headers to shorten yesterdays work and use checklists that I check off as the day passes. I can also scribble notes in a freeform fashion at the bottom. I dedicate a whole browser (Safari) just to this page so I can easily tab to it.

For work I use MSFT Todo for stuff I'd like to do "at some point when I get time" (it's approved by my company, unlike my personal Todo app)

Did you try todoman (which I wrote, like a decade ago)?

It stores todos in icalendar files, so it’s easy to sync onto a CalDav server and onto your phone.

I use typora which is a markdown edior with folder structure. And AI to make the checkable lists.

I use todo.txt on steroids. In fact, the file is called todo.org and is best used in Emacs' org-mode, which does the best of all worlds for decades now. I can have a plain ASCII todo list and some algorithmic magic that understands it, if I want that.

I do this too, but with a text file per day.

I have my 3 favourite bindings from vimwiki in my config and have used this 'system' for years without any problems.

    <leader>ww         = go to diary home
    <leader>w<leader>w = go to today
    <leader>w<leader>d = go to list of days

https://github.com/peteryates/dotfiles/blob/master/nvim/.con...

I started using a text todo list at work just last February. I'd tried various things over the years and this has been the best so far. It's a combination of things to do, a record of what has been done since I started, in some cases a filling in of historical important things that have happened, and as a simple way of keeping track of different steps of individual processes, or individual items that need the same fix.

The top part is the todo list and the bottom portion is a list of days and what was done beneath each.

I currently have three editors open: nvim (because I've been using it since it was vi), VS Code (because that's what work mandates) and Emacs (for org mode only). Horses for courses, and all that.

I do a combined TODO + Log in pure text. So the stuff at the bottom of the list is todo, and the stop above is a log of stuff I've done. I do one list per year.

I have a "never-ending .txt file" too. About 4100 pages' worth, at the moment, across 25 volumes and counting, over the span of now nearly eight years.

I don't intend particularly to advocate the format here, but I will say that of all my many bookshelves, in a certain way there's none I find more satisfying than the one I work to fill myself. Is that worth more than being able to use grep(1) on their contents? Or are those contents worth more to me because I can't? Who could say, but it's fun to think about, at least. (And for those young enough to be easily swayed by vanity, if you think performative reading is in fashion right now...)

Amazing. It doesn't surprise me that the most simple workflows are the ones that work best. Probably because there is not a lot of resistance (keyboard shortcut instead of searching through a list of apps / no tutorial on how to use it; it's just a text file / it's easily readable and you get to choose the formatting and structure of your text).

As a developer, however, I have to scratch the itch of always having "wrangleable" data, and yet again text files are the best at it. I am already thinking of doing this and just follow a set of writing "guidelines" so I can parse the txt if I wanted to do some visualization stuff.

A txt (rtf in my case) is a notebook that doesn't get messy. Deepest parts go back to 2007. Cell phone alarm for reminders, also acts as a clotting agent for time. After you do what the alarm is for you have choice of setting alarm again or proceeding into the next item.

Same, but my text files are .md and synched for free between mobile/workstantion using Joplin + OneDrive.

I guess the more organised you are, the better off with just a textfile. I'm not, so I use layers: - postit notes - google (I know!) calendar if it's time sensitive - paper or text file notes - if it's a longer thing, maybe obsidian (I know!)

The point is, I don't think one app, any app can solve all mankind's all scheduling problems.

Markdown with Obsidian is a good mix. Let's you add context and you could figure a way to sync with phone from my 2nd hand lenovo running linux to view; code snippets, documents, media, graphs, ...all due to the - in my own view the universal document format.

I am a tech creative so I am okay with this vice. Trying to finetune the above setup btw.

└── Dey well

I love this article. The magic of todos is that it's really about the process, not the apps. An app can facilitate the process, but it's not required. I personally use Things and an ongoing Google doc. It requires me to copy between them every day, but I find that forces me to do the process of prioritizing and paring down, which is the magic part. A text file would work as well.

There are a few things I wish I could magically add to the text doc, though, like inline alarms and calendar events.

my slightly next gen todo is a notebook on my remarkable. added features are sharing between devices, and since it's eink its a good paper like alternative to sticky-notes. For me beating procrastination can be more important than organizing many subtasks.

FWIW, i only use this for work todos and differentiate todo with calendar(paper calendar and dry erase board for home, outlook for work calendar)

I've built Wren (https://github.com/bjesus/wren) with a pretty similar idea of simplicity in mind — a task is just a file — but, it can also be whatever kind of file you want:

1. Drag an email to ~/Notes and it's a task

2. touch ~/Notes/get\ milk and it's a task

3. ln -s ~/Documents/something-i-need-to-finish-writing.doc ~/Notes/complete\ writing and it's task

Wren doesn't care about the format.

I have an alias called "notes" which opens a file called "notes" where I write everything, including upcoming todos.

I never look back more than a day or two worth of notes.

I use Apple's native Notes.app

It is easy to create text with checkbox you can click on, and on macbook you can type fn + Q to open the floating Notes window, or use hot corners. It is automatically available on your iPhone as well, since it syncs.

Somewhat similar situation here, but I use a .diff file:

! heading here

+ item to do here

- item completed here

the !+- prefixes auto-highlight/colorize in editors. I use Sublime Text.

This certainly doesn't apply to all cases, and version control / history is very complicated, but I use a notepad and a felt tip pen and I just couldn't use anything else to keep track of my TODOs for the day! It has been my goto ever since my first job, and it's never failed me!

Yes, oh yes, it's so refreshing. You have got 217 points but you deserve more. One million. Let's not engineer things that don't need it.

For short-term (next few days), TODO.txt on my desktop is superior to every fancy solution I've tried.

For longer term stuff/backburner items, I use Google tasks.

I gave up on to-do apps as well. I have a text file I started in 2017. It's on my desktop and always open in a text editor. I just add the following at the top for a new entry:

20250811 - Core API - deploy to production 20250810 - Customer X - call about upgrading to new version

Every day I move items I have not yet done to the top of the list. Order in the list is the priority.

Old or done tasks naturally fall down the list.

I had Claude Sonnet make me a text-based notes/todo app.

I write all of my notes in plain text, but I can add things like:

#Note: title

This is a note

--

And the text editor will highlight the note and show it in another window that shows all notes.

I can edit this in any standard text editor if I'm on a device without my custom app.

I can also convert them into sticky notes that are each "always on top" windows that can be dragged/dropped to set their position.

The notes also have tags for background color, border color, font color, due by, etc... that are all set in the text. When shown as sticky notes or in the note list, markdown content can be rendered.

Using text for the raw content and having a tool that will parse and display the content in a way that works for me has really made for a great note taking experience.

I've used a TODO.md for years. I prefer it to a .txt as I can get some syntax highlighting in Vim.

About a year ago I merged my TODO with my work journal. So now, instead of two files I just have LOG.md with the TODO stuff at the top, a horizonal line and the journal of what I've been doing each day below.

I also copy the file (e.g. LOG-2024.md) each year and clear out the journal to keep the number of lines down.

I use a self-hosting Baïkal CalDAV server with Tasks.org (https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.tasks/ ). The advantage of this is that it works with email clients.

I’ve never found a productivity tool/to-do list app I use more than just sending myself a barely comprehensible email.

This is a concept I tried to sell many years ago, it is not available, but I still use it and believe this is the most flexibility in todo list. Will be happy for feedback

https://youtu.be/RBBPbIkgWUU?si=S_JoNr4FLbqPMo5D

That's exactly my workflow but I use markdown txt file, and use vim + macros for auto inserting a new entry with date or marking things done. Plus some custom syntax highlighting for done tasks.

I use Microsoft TODO as a reminder and to not lose thoughts, but I primarly use text files to organise work backlog.

Didn't try Workflowy though! (YC S10 and still not enshittified)

In a typical todo list, I expect the following features (explained with examples of a typical school timetable:

What, When, Where, Who, Color, Some Notes, Completion checkmark.

1. Name of the event/task e.g. Chemistry

2. Day/Date/Time of the task (can either be specific weekdays or a specific date with time) e.g. Monday at 9:30am, Thursday at 4pm.

3. Person who the task will be with (professor name) e.g. John Doe

4. Location of task e.g. McKenzie Hall Room 504

5. Color e.g. red or hex code #FF0000

6. Some extra notes

7. Maybe ability to add checkmark before the task when it's done. This can be done using the unicode character.

We also need nested tasks (think Lab for Chemistry or some Assignment due for Chemistry). This can be done by adding tabs or hyphens before the line.

The format which works best is a text file containing:

-------------

Chemistry on Monday at 9:30am, Thursday at 4pm #green @McKenzie Hall Room 504 by John Doe //this comment can be a note

- Lab on Wednesday at 2pm by 8am #blue //don't forget to bring lab coat

- Assignment on Mar 9 at 8am #red

Dentist appointment on April 5 at 11am

/* Full block comment which is multiline. Lorem ipsum is placeholder text commonly used in the graphic, print, and publishing industries for previewing layouts and visual mockups. */

I've always liked https://www.taskpaper.com/

It's one step up from a single txt file. You only need to use one text file with it. It's like a nice UI for a single todo text file.

ToDo apps are a perfect example of coming up with solutions for a non-existent problem. Most of the tech solutions fall into this category.

When the consumer gets to take a hard look at their needs and gives a thrashing for sales pitch and doesn't give a damn to peer pressure, and demands for a bare-bones functional solutions only for their real and immediate needs, 90% of these solutions vanish into thin air.

This. Working with plain notes during the last 10 years and it could not be better.

I'd be happy if I could define my own notification system on top of a text file tbh.

I can't tell you how many times I would have forgotten something if I had not made it a timestamped reminder.

That said, most apps all suck in various ways. So I feel the urge to just use text.

I'm currently using Reminders.app (the default on iOS) and it's nice that it's somewhat lightweight. But organizing things is clunky and the experience feels flimsy.

All throughout college I used Trello, and frankly it was better that way. I should go back, except every time I log in something new is different and I don't like change.

My favorite todo app is "NotePlan.co" which actually uses .txt files for its data storage. The file is synced on icloud and can be used on iOS and mac OS apps.

MS Onenote? I have a page called "todo" but it never really took off. I suppose if the lesson here is "extreme simplification", then MS Onenote--> todo.txt represents an improvement.

Similar experience here, except I'm using the built in notes app on my phone and keep nothing more than a list. When I used various todo apps, I felt as if I was fighting against them.

I use obsidian with the tasklist plugin

shameless plug: I also got fed up with todo apps (and note-taking apps in general), so I built "Zettel"[1]. It's a simple piece of paper, but on your phone. It's amazing what you can get done with such a simple tool.

[1]: https://github.com/AlexW00/Zettel

Obsidian + folders (done, wip, todo, trash) + one file per task (and all details and notes inside each file). That's been really good for me.

To be honest, I have never understood the TODO "industry." Do people really have so many things to do, and is it really that difficult to keep track of them all? I do not know if it's just me but I feel completely alienated by these apps and articles.

Use a single .txt file for a todo list and set up a cron job to do a git commit on it every 5 min. This way you have some history if needed.

Org-mode is life changing, check it out.

Another way to solve this is to use Fossil. Fossil has a built-in wiki. You can launch Fossil UI and use the built-in wiki with Markdown. Have legacy txt files? Just open a new fossil project and add them to it. And if you set up the admin and user correctly, you can mirror your notes to GitHub. So, it's not that text files are not a good option. There are many vastly superior options with almost no effort.

Todoist. Unaffiliated but love the product and believe they deserve a shotuout.

Legit. Especially with the rise of LLM.

But I use .md files stored in a private git.

yeah, this is basically all i use Obsidian for...

A daily note, with a bunch of checkbox items

theres a plugin that automatically rolls every unchecked item into the next day's daily note.

these two features fulfill 99% of my 'todo list' needs.

A bit hyperbolic. He tried very few Todo applications.

No org mode? No Taskwarrior? Both are apps backed by plain text.

Spreadsheet programs such as LibreOffice are the next level. These are the most advanced and easily customized text files yet. Think of these as multidimensional text files that are all connected in an endless grid. Text files may seem ok, but managing tens of thousands of pages across sheets and books seems more straightforward with the spreadsheet format. But Vim is a great fallback when sheets are overkill.

This is the way. Markdown does improve it a bit, though!

I’d need markdown otherwise I’ll just use a small notebook

You should try org-mode

congratulations on the sane side

i use whatever notes app my phone has and sync that on my laptop. Sometimes my email apps have that feature.

Is this a joke?

    AI helps but isn’t needed: With Cursor/Claude Code or Neovim + Supermaven, I can write my entire day’s schedule in 5 minutes. The AI completes my sentences, predicts meeting times, memorizes how I write tasks.

Zim is actually exactly what you need. Txt files created with a really simple possibility of mark down like style added.

Everyone thinks I’m crazy for saying this, but I like Microsoft ToDo. And I’ve tried dozens of them. I’ve been using the Microsoft one for the past two years every day.

Me personally I'm very satisfied by org-mode, but the main point is not org-mode itself but Emacs, or an integrated, end-user programmable environment. Org-agenda handle todos, but in the same notes I handle attachments, runnable live code, links to mails/threads, ... because of that and that's the point: we have a single brain, we need systems who are integrated as well.

Not a gazillion of independent apps lacking also unix CLI IPCs (only cut&paste), but a single integrate, moldable one. Modern software have ERPs as best integrated solution, Emacs is the most integrated one still alive and kicking, Smalltalk workstations and LispM was the best from the past.

Maybe in some more decades, a step at a time, we will be back at such evolutive levels...

I’ve been using a text file for years.

I wanted to make my own todo app. One thing that I would want is to reorder things, group and rank them etc.

For example, in my text file I usually put the number of minutes or hours something would take, and then order things by easiest first, to get things done. That way I have less things to carry over for the next day.

I also found that if I keep procrastinating on important but long things, it probably means I need to hire someone, or partner with someone, who is better than me in that thing. I don't believe in pushing myself more than I already am, or optimizing personal productivity, I think it's actually a sign that I need to work on recruiting people to a startup or join an existing project. I believe in optimizing the organization and its systems, not people.

Reinventing the plan file!

I mostly do this too for personal stuff. Although on solo projects I have a neverending TODO.md I check in...

...and on multi-person projects I end up using github issues/projects and/or Forgejo's equivalent

things 3 is fantastic and access to it is an actual factor in what devices i buy

For work I use Logseq, but I treat it like a .txt file. 90% of my use is the daily journal pages, adding NOW and LATER todos, notes, whatever. The ability to link nodes to other pages or nodes is just good enough to beat out a .txt.

For my personal life I use Things 4. I bought the Mac and iOS versions. Despite the steep price for the Mac version, I think it's worth it. I appreciate how the app is organized. I like that the "Inbox" dumping ground is totally separate from the "Today" queue, that it pulls in calendar events to the Today queue, and the differentiation of Anytime vs Someday. I would forget to check it too, if I hadn't placed a large widget right on my Home Screen. It's the first thing I see any time I unlock my phone, it helps a lot.

I am also an avid user of post-it notes. I like to keep a stack of them on my desk. These are for things I need to complete _today_, if not _up next_. This is how I stay focused when I'm in deep work. "add test for new sort fn", "better name for site/tenant var", "need new fixture for sortables", that kind of thing. When I leave my desk I should have no sticky notes on it, whatever left ends up in Logseq.

I use a TODO.md within Obsidian, synced across devices with SyncThing. That's the sweet spot

Like the simplicity ... but this would never work for me ... I literally have thousands of tasks and ideas and notes and possible tasks and checklists and ...

The key is being able to filter all of your tasks down quickly to what's essential today. No way in hell I can visual-scan everything that's important to me.

I’ve always circled back to a shirt-pocket sized spiral notebook. A7 size, I think.

I write them on my hand

I went through the same process and now use a text file, or more accurately, I use a "canvas" in slack which is essentially a free-form text page with Markdown formatting (including check boxes that I can check). I make one page per month, with H1 headings for each day.

The reason I use this in Slack is that I already have Slack open all day and don't want to have YetAnotherWindowOpen. Also, I get sync between computers/devices for free.

This is just for the work I need to do that day. Otherwise we have YouTrack tickets; any meetings I set in Google Calendar.

"It's mine, no company can kill it"

+ it's low friction, no special knowledge, no special tools, works offline is what does it for me.

Of course we use something bulkier at work, but for my own personal TODO I keep a .txt file, and It Just Works (tm).

For me it's still Trello. I used to have a .txt file, and once went back to it. But somehow, having these task cards is easier for me.

I suppose I'm boring and already in the Apple ecosystem, but Notes app has checkbox and indent support, works between laptop and phone nicely. Just works

I would take this more seriously if the title were: > I tried every todo app and ended up with a .md file

Yep. I lost all my notes to a proprietary format back in 2004. I've been 100% a notes.txt person ever since and it's never failed me nor been not enough.

I don't know what people are talking about not having notification or not being aware. Just make a habit of looking at it and put important stuff near the top with attention grabbing characters by it.

I built a simple app a while ago to learn programming and it works for me

https://Simpletaskmanager.vercel.app

All the info is locally hosted.

k

same

tl;dr

Ready to ditch the productivity app hamster wheel? Do this:

    Create a file called todo.txt
    Write down what you need to do tomorrow
    Do those things
    Add notes as you work
    Start a new date section when needed

I am not a fan of Emacs whatsoever (I find it a buggy mess where everything works only 80%), but org mode is absolutely fantastic for this.