One of my tricks for using task managers in general, but in particular Things is to generate them with automations and templates instead of recurring tasks.

I started doing it with Things, mainly because their recurring tasks is beyond stupid.

But in general I think it is a better way of doing it for most things, because it isn’t relying on you completing something before the next one is added.

My system is that sometime in the last half of a week I generate new projects for things that will expire in the next week. Usually Weekly, Daily and Biweekly things; sometimes it includes Monthly and Yearly stuff; and there are also some things that are more on a less fixed schedule.

I get amused every time I see an app that let me export data, but have no way of (or or both) clearing all the data in it and importing the mentioned export.

Others have ways of doing that leave me in a place where I sit there and think: has anyone actually tried to use this with a lot of data?!

I did a consulting gig with Python over the last six months.

It used to be my language in the start of my career. But at this point whenever I sit down and use it and just think: I’m so past this way of coding.

I can’t stand it.

There are in particular two things I hear neurotypical people complain about that makes me laugh so hard and think: you’d really love having ADHD.

• That it is so terrible sitting in an open office with all of these sounds, people walking around you making it hard to focus.
  
• That it is so annoying to code with GitHub CoPilot on because it start suggesting things before you’re done thinking / saying / writing out what you’re thinking. Like it is speaking in the middle of what you’re saying.

Both of them makes me think the same thing: that is how my brain is most of the time.

One of the things I enjoy about Things is the structure.

I find that it makes sense, even though it is kind of rigid.

You have Todos, Checklists, Tags, Projects, Areas and Headings

• All Areas are at the root level
• Projects are either at the root level or inside an Area
• Todos are either in the Inbox (or hidden from it if is assigned a Start Date/Defer Date), in an Area or a Project
• Headings area are a way to split projects into different sections
• Tasks can have a checklist, which is like sub-tasks, but only one level
• Areas, Projects, and Todos can have tags

Their “Date” or Start Dates or Defer Dates are a bit weird though. You can assign it to Projects and Tasks, but they are not inherited. Something that gives you a bit control of your views.

There are two things I wish was different about them

• That you could assign things to “Night” on a given date, and not just the current one.
• That they didn’t just stay at “Today” forever when you reach their date.
• But I love that they have a built in state for “Someday”

I also wish there was a way to have different moves of viewing the “side bar” or “Home Screen” (on iPhone). The one that lists all your projects etc.

• Let me hide Areas where everything is in the future
• Toggle between the current way it is and the different “Date” lists: Today, Tomorrow, Someday, Anytime.

In the Things app, you have a sidebar on macOS and iPadOS; or the start screen on iOS (why the fuck isn’t that one renamed back to iPhoneOS?).

You have a clean section of fixed items, and then all your areas, projects etc.

There are a bunch of things not available in it. Like for example Tomorrow something one can show by searching for it. Plus there are a lot of more complex things one can search for especially if you do it with a Shortcuts.

I don’t really want a full on OmniFocus perspective thing here. But I would really like to be able add things like that to the side bar. So I don’t have to run a shortcut to do it.

I always find myself going between Things and OmniFocus.

In general I prefer Things, but there are things about OmniFocus that is way better.

Like with Things you don’t have much choice in terms of structure of your data or how things looks. But I do think it in general is a much better designed app. And their Shortcut automation story is far better.

OmniFocus on the other hand, let you nest folders however you want, and same with tasks. And while their Shortcut integration is kind of meh, their built in Taskpaper support and native scripting stuff is beyond powerful.

At the moment I’m using Things, and I’m happy with it.

What I see is that I go against OmniFocus when shit gets complicated. But when I decide to move back to things I do a much better job of simplifying those complexities.

Like instead of deep task and folder structures I make small flatter projects that kind of are intended to be done in a series instead.

When I’m dealing with my task management system I always want to see things at different detail levels.

When I’m planning I think about things at detail levels that are very high level.

Like when I look at what I want to get done this month or quarter it is very high level. Usually more about what areas of my life I want to have my focus at.

When I get to weeks it is usually more about sub-sections of those areas. Higher than how I do projects. For days it is all about projects. And when I’m doing things it is all about small tasks and projects that is easy to complete and move on to the next one.

I find it very useful to have a place outside of my task manager to keep track of this stuff that is beyond the day to day overview.

This is why I do a lot of this stuff on paper. With different pages for different detail levels. To think it through and have a plan. And to look at that plan when I plan the stuff below it.

Like looking at the quarter / year overview when I plan a month, and on the month when I plan a week etc.

Makes it all work way better than just this very high level thing that never move or all of these endless projects and todo’s that never seem to disappear.

When we get to May I’ve been actively working on my weight and general fitness for 4 years. From the highest to lowest I’ve lost around 40kg. And my general fitness and health can’t really be compared to back then.

Here are some thoughts I have about it and my experience doing it

• There is a lot of value to logging calories even without using it to limit intake. You get a much greater insight into the relation how many calories various food and amounts actually are
• The only way to improve things in the long term is to change habits etc.
• It takes time.
• You can’t and won’t do it perfect every or even most days.
• Doing something is always better than none
• Start with goals and routines you can keep up and tighten as you move on
• Evaluate and change as you go to identify things that don’t work for you.
• Small meals is great if you get hangry
• Fasting is great if you prefer bigger to smaller meals or if always snacking is a problem

Some of my conclusions on all of this is that loosing weight and getting fitter requires you to be willing to not do the things that do the opposite. I could have been a lot thinner and fitter if I was willing to do some diet and habit changes that I’m not willing to do.

I’ve landed at going to the gym almost every day, and intermittent fasting as a way where I can eat whatever I feel like and mostly stay within my weight target range.