3 revolutionary products: to-do list, history tracker, and a productivity app

Well, today, I’m introducing three revolutionary products:

The first one is a to-do list.

The second is a history tracking system.

And the third is a breakthrough productivity app.

These are not three separate products, this is one product, and I am calling it tasks.txt

The search for a to-do app that works for me

After trying out almost every possible to-do app with my personal tasks, I can honestly say that I am a failure at using to-do apps. I can never keep up with the tasks. Once they pile up, I just quit and move on to the next to-do app, starting from a clean slate. I know, I know — it’s me, it’s not them.

The only thing that stuck with me is a simple text file.

A text file?! How does that even work?

Yes. The current working solution is a simple text file.

The tools

I keep a file called tasks.txt on my Dropbox folder, this takes care of backups and syncing between devices. I use Sublime Text as the quickest editor to edit the file.

The content is simple, and looks like this:

...top of file...
Wednesday (03/01/2030) — imagine this is a future date
[_] Follow up on bug report Z
[_] Review the email titled “X Y and Z”
Tuesday (02/01/2030) — imagine this is today
[X] Learn about Y
[X] Send an offer to candidate X
Monday (01/01/2030) — imagine this is yesterday
[X] Release X feature to production
[X] Talk to X about Y
...more days into the past...

And that’s about it. I add to-do items as an empty checkbox [_] and if they are completed I mark them completed as [X].

If a task is no longer relevant, I just delete the line.

When I need to postpone tasks (snooze) to another day, I just move it to the next day or a future date.

If I did something today that is worth mentioning, but is not on the to-do list — I add it and mark it as completed.

I never delete the history. The text file format allows for instant search across all history, and I can also go back to an exact date.

If I’m on mobile, I’ll add a reminder using the voice assistant and when I get back to the computer, I will log it to the tasks.txt file.

Text files in review

Here are the pros of having a text file:

1. Cross-platform, can be edited and viewed on any device
2. Editable by any app, include vi if that works for you
3. Easy to backup and sync between devices
4. Easy to edit
5. Easy to search
6. Offline first
7. Fast. It loads in an instant.
8. Low requirements. I actually keep the editor running all the time with the file open.

Cons:

1. Not collaborative. As this is a personal to-do list app (that is work related, but still), it doesn’t matter much.
2. Some people may laugh at you for not using a “real app”.

Where can I get this?

Well… you already got it. Just create a file:

touch ~/Dropbox/tasks.txt

And then open it and edit it

vi ~/Dropbox/tasks.txt

Simple, right? Start using your new to-do app now, nothing to download, or register to.

Non personal use

For non-personal, business use I enjoy using Airtable and Notion. Cool stuff, but not as cool as a text file.