Managing a todo list

Todo lists are a second brain for me. And Things 3 + Apple Notes in combination are the gold standard.

I’ve tried different types of todo list apps and methods over the years, including analog and digital—I was even a fan of the Palm Pilot as a todo list back in the day, but when I realized it erased all its memory on battery depletion that pipedream ended.

Field Notes were also a fantastic idea. But you have to fold back the page and can’t easily look at the list throughout the day without finding the page. Also, if your toddler chucks it in a wet bathroom sink your hosed. Field Notes Steno is even better, but the metal wires can scratch up the wrong surfaces.

I’ve also tried Cortex Brand Sidekick Notebook, with its folding back pages. But I found the fold back not as good as I wished.

For the last eight years I’ve been using Things 3. I’ve tried a few replacements, but nothing else sticks quite as well.

My method for daily tasks is minimal. Here’s what my task list currently looks like (slightly modified):

Today

Tomorrow

For [Work] todos I’ll reference an Apple Notes doc with a list of my highest priority tasks. The Apple Notes doc is regularly updated and my Product Manager and I review it multiple times a week to make sure it’s up to date.

On the Apple Notes doc it will look something like this:

• [Feature name] + [screenshot]
• [Feature name] (redlines in Figma)
• [Feature name] + [screenshot]
• [Feature name] (redlines in Figma)
• [Feature name] + [screenshot]
• [Feature name] (redlines in Figma)

The most important item is at the top, and at anytime I can cross reference that feature with a Linear task, or a Figma file. The screenshot contains a visual of either a discussion we had, a Figma frame, or an in-progress Freeform sketch.

The feature name, along with the reference to where the latest can be found, and an occasional visual, helps me know the state of the project at any time.

Between Things and Notes I’m able to capture where things stand and catch anything I might miss. Another part of this is also pruning.

Removing tasks that aren’t relevant, moving todos to future days, and modifying as needed. At any given moment these two apps are a source of truth, and they represent what I’m working on. If they can’t be trusted they might as well not exist. So if I need to change something I change it here, and then I can relax knowing it’s captured.