pepopowitz’s Twitter Archive—№ 2,387

This tweet by @ryanlanciaux convinced me to finally write up my thoughts about how I use @todoist to manage my day. @ryanlanciaux/1261300657463734272 So....a (very verbose) thread 👇
Permalink On twitter.com ♻️ 4 Retweets ❤️ 9 Favorites 2020 May 15 Mood +2 🙂

…in reply to @pepopowitz
Probably the most important thing I do with todoist is a morning ritual of planning my day. 1. I tick off anything I forgot to tick off yesterday. Sometimes I'll get in a zone and forget to mark things done, or sometimes my day ends abruptly and I just walk away.
Permalink On twitter.com ❤️ 2 Favorites 2020 May 15 Mood 0

…in reply to @pepopowitz
2. Reschedule things from yesterday to today. I do this from the "Today" view, because there's a button that says "Reschedule" that does all the work. Choose "Move to today", et voila.
On twitter.com ❤️ 2 Favorites 2020 May 15 Mood 0

…in reply to @pepopowitz
3a. Add any scheduled meetings or events I have for the day. This includes workouts I want to get in, which are often dependent on (a) the rest of my schedule and (b) the weather. These are all time-specific things, so I...assign them a specific time.
Permalink On twitter.com ❤️ 2 Favorites 2020 May 15 Mood +1 🙂

…in reply to @pepopowitz
3b. I add my meetings/events manually. I tried the google calendar sync and it did too much syncing. All I want is to see my meetings mixed in with the things I have to do. It helps me figure out how much I can get done today.
Permalink On twitter.com ❤️ 1 Favorite 2020 May 15 Mood +3 🙂

…in reply to @pepopowitz
4a. Reprioritize all my items for today. I choose ~3 things I really want to get done, and mark them p1. (If you're unfamiliar with todoist, there are p1-p3 tags for priority.) Meetings don't usually count toward this, unless they're like SUPER important.
Permalink On twitter.com ❤️ 1 Favorite 2020 May 15 Mood +8 🙂

…in reply to @pepopowitz
4b. I try to keep no more than a few things in each priority level (p1-p3). I'll bump tasks down in priority if they've lost importance since yesterday. I'm learning that p3 doesn't really mean anything to me; I never get to those. I might stop using it.
Permalink On twitter.com ❤️ 1 Favorite 2020 May 15 Mood -3 🙁

…in reply to @pepopowitz
5. I have some real talk with myself. What am I not going to get to today, or what do I just not care about today? Reschedule those items for tomorrow, or "next week". Get em off the board. If it keeps getting bumped to "next week", delete it. It'll come back if it needs to.
Permalink On twitter.com ❤️ 1 Favorite 2020 May 15 Mood -2 🙁

…in reply to @pepopowitz
At this point, I should _hopefully_ have a pretty focused list for the day. Then, throughout the day:
Permalink On twitter.com ❤️ 1 Favorite 2020 May 15 Mood +5 🙂

…in reply to @pepopowitz
a. I use a label named (at-symbol)active to track what I'm working on *right now*. This helps me remember what to focus on when my brain transitions back into deep-focus mode. I almost always only have one item marked active.
Permalink On twitter.com ❤️ 3 Favorites 2020 May 15 Mood +4 🙂

…in reply to @pepopowitz
b. When creating new tasks, *estimate the level of focus required*. I use labels for shallow, medium, and deep. When I'm in between meetings and don't have time to get into deep focus, I can pick off shallow things and do them quickly. This is the 2nd most important thing I do.
Permalink On twitter.com ❤️ 3 Favorites 2020 May 15 Mood +2 🙂

…in reply to @pepopowitz
c. Use the global shortcut key to quickly add tasks when things come up throughout the day. I didn't know it existed at first, but it's really helpful to not have to switch to the Todoist app when you're in the middle of a conversation and someone reminded you to do something.
Permalink On twitter.com ❤️ 1 Favorite 2020 May 15 Mood +2 🙂

…in reply to @pepopowitz
d. I assign projects to tasks. I don't use that info often, but it comes in handy once in a while. My main projects are: Artsy, personal, workouts, and retro (I often add things I want to talk about at our next retro. I schedule them for the day of the next retro).
Permalink On twitter.com ❤️ 2 Favorites 2020 May 15 Mood +1 🙂

…in reply to @pepopowitz
d2. Before the pandemic I had multiple projects related to conferences (planning and/or speaking), but I've become so disinterested during this time that I can't remember the last time I used them. But they were useful when I was using them.
Permalink On twitter.com ❤️ 2 Favorites 2020 May 15 Mood +2 🙂

…in reply to @pepopowitz
e. I view all my tasks with a custom filter that sorts tasks for today in this order: (at-symbol)active, meetings/events with a scheduled time, then p1-p4. I rarely need to scan past the top two items on my board - the thing I'm currently working on, and my next scheduled event.
Permalink On twitter.com ❤️ 1 Favorite 2020 May 15 Mood +3 🙂

…in reply to @pepopowitz
f. Force myself to break tasks down. If I find that I haven't changed my "active" task in a while, it's a hint that I haven't broken things down small enough. When tasks are too broad, I spiral into a bad place, where I don't feel in control. I forget this *all the time*.
Permalink On twitter.com ❤️ 1 Favorite 2020 May 15 Mood -4 🙁

…in reply to @pepopowitz
In summary, my three biggest takeaways: - Start your day with intentional preparation. - Choose tasks that match the level of focus you can provide at the time. - Break tasks down so that you can check things off and feel in-control and productive.
Permalink On twitter.com ♻️ 2 Retweets ❤️ 4 Favorites 2020 May 15 Mood 0