Keeping track of tasks & to-do's

[96ukssob]

I am probably one of the biggest procrastinators around. In an attempt to be more organized, I keep trying new pieces of technology, but often leave them on the table as they do not do what I'm looking for... then back to the old way of "I'll take care of this later."

So recently a few things came up that put me in a pickle where I forgot to follow up or get something done by a certain time, so looking for an almost "reminder" software that I can create quick notes. Ideally, a Donna would be awesome, but I don't have $60k to pay someone right now

So I bring my question to the great minds here as I'm sure there are a few of you that may yield the answer...

In an ideal world, I need to create quick tasks like "call Mark before 5pm Friday" and that then creates an item. Then I can add a few custom fields, like time it will take, etc., as well configure a level of priority for that item so if a lower priority item overlaps with a higher priority item, I'll be notified that "'call Mark' overlaps with 'eat chips' at 5pm, do you wish to snooze 'call Mark' or reschedule?"

I've used something similar before that was custom created for a company I did some work with and they gave me an account while I was consulting there. Awesome stuff, but sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo hard to find something to keep organized that will be an easy fit.

One thing I loved that this did was every day (m-f) would email me what's on the list at a certain time. It was tied into their CRM, so if I needed to move the "call Mark" call, I could move it and it would send him an email.

[deltav]

Evernote would be the most popular of these, it probably would suit your needs just fine.

https://evernote.com/

[96ukssob]

Originally Posted by deltav

Evernote would be the most popular of these, it probably would suit your needs just fine.

https://evernote.com/

honestly, I had no clue there was a reminder function there

I use this all the time for stuff

[deltav]

I think the reminders are actually a new-ish feature, added earlier this summer.

[Courtney_Kellfind]

I use the Reminders built-in app in OS X, along with the Calendar to keep myself organized now. Action Method Online from Behance is what I used before that, apparently I can't post a URL yet, or I would.

And I'd rather have a Joan Harris, personally.

[Mickey_]

If you need power-user features:
http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omnifocus/

(OS X and iOS only)

[tokmansta]

vouch for evernote

[baddog]

I use Reminder Fox

[Fiddler]

for to do list i use todoist.com for everything else evernote

[PornDude]

Wunderlist.

[EddyTheDog]

www.gqueues.com if you use Google products...

[Rochard]

I use Google docs.

Very simple - make a spreadsheet, put in name, date started, and the task, and highlight by color - red means needs action, yellow means in progress, and green means completed. Very easy.

[Captain Kawaii]

1. Clipboard
2. Sheet of paper
3. Write things down as they come to you
4. Cross them out as you do them.

Your issue is not gadgets and not working, its procrastination. Mine too.

The hard copy list is easy to scan with your eyes, add to and you get a good feeling seeing all the tasks checked off.

Yes, its very 1975 but its very effective to get things done. And its almost free.

I learned this technique from an Army SFC who go more done in a day then I expect most get done in a week.

[ExpliciteDesign]

Im using Google spreadsheet (docs) to keep track of my project and the time spent on each tasks. But I will give a try at evernote because of the extra features.

[mafia_man]

Originally Posted by PikaPoka

Wunderlist.

+1

[96ukssob]

The Evernote upgrade is nice, but doesn't remind by date/importance or "notify" you when something is due. Merely just shows you how long it's overdue... I already have a wife that does that now with things around the house haha

Wunderlist is next to try, but may just pay to have it developed. Which btw, if anyone is interested let me know features that would be cool and I'll create a nice spec and get someone to develop it for me, and give you a copy

Originally Posted by Captain Kawaii

1. Clipboard
2. Sheet of paper
3. Write things down as they come to you
4. Cross them out as you do them.

Your issue is not gadgets and not working, its procrastination. Mine too.

The hard copy list is easy to scan with your eyes, add to and you get a good feeling seeing all the tasks checked off.

Yes, its very 1975 but its very effective to get things done. And its almost free.

I learned this technique from an Army SFC who go more done in a day then I expect most get done in a week.

I've actually been doing this a lot with post-it's. I use colors for importance and used to have a bit calendar that I would put them on.

Problem only comes in when I'm not in my office, such as things from home, late calls or emails when I'm out that I forget to add.

I've even tried the native features on my iPhone which are nice, but limited.

It's just nice to think of something now then add it in through an app/site while I'm sitting on my couch to do for Monday when I'm in the office.