It is not the language per se, but the tools around it that makes it amazing. After years hearing about org-mode, three months ago I finally decided to try it

It is not the language per se, but the tools around it that makes it amazing. After years hearing about org-mode, three months ago I finally decided to try it out. Here is how it went. I started simple. First I watched a short tutorial which gave me the overall idea [1]. Then, I created a simple todo.org file and started fiddling with it. You add lists with * and nests them with more * * Project ** Code *** TODO Email my co. *** TODO Implement foo ** DONE Implement bar As a side note, I think Markdown syntax is much better visually. org-mode has more clutter when formatting block code, inline code, and URLs. The good thing about * is that nesting is easy. After that, I started trying out the keybindings: <tab>/<S-tab> folds lists; C-c C-t is a function to cycle between task states; C-c C-s schedules a task for a given day; C-c C-d sets a final deadline; C-c C-a shows the agenda (day/week/month); you can refile entire groups of tasks (C-c w), archive (C-c C-x C-a), move tasks around (M-ArrowUp/ArrowDown), increase depth (M-ArrowRight/Left). These are the main shortcuts I use. You don't need to memorize all, you can access most through M-x org- and hitting tab to see the functions available. Another useful function: C-c C-l adds a link, which can be an URL, a file, a folder. Then, you can open that link with C-c C-o. It is great to add context to a task, like * TODO read hacker news article [[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14571453][link]]. Seeing how customizable it is, then I searched how other people used org-mode to manage their tasks. I found two tutorials implementing GTD. I followed this guide [2] entirely, specially its workflow. And I incorporated some ideas from [3], like clocking my time in a task (C-c C-x C-i or M-x org-clock-in for clocking in, and C-c C-x C-o or M-x org-clock-out for clocking out) and the list of task states. Guide [2] suggests using remember-mode, but it has been replaced since then by capture-mode. capture-mode is a function that contains custom templates for adding tasks (like adding date+time of creation and filing to a given tree/asterisk) and writing notes, seamlessly without changing context in emacs. The thing is, you don't need to learn and implement all at once. You will build your org file incrementally along with its tools, according to your demand. And there are tools for so many stuff. Finally, there is Orgzly, which is an open source Android app to sync your org files using Dropbox. This was the best combo for me, as I have all tasks synced with me while it keeps all org-mode functionalities, as they are just text files. A fair warning is that it might have been somewhat easier for me because I was an Emacs user prior to that, so I already knew the shortcuts to move around text. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzZ09dAbLEE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzZ09dAbLEE [2]: http://newartisans.com/2007/08/using-org-mode-as-a-day-planner/ http://newartisans.com/2007/08/using-org-mode-as-a-day-plann... [3]: http://members.optusnet.com.au/~charles57/GTD/gtd_workflow.html http://members.optusnet.com.au/~charles57/GTD/gtd_workflow.h...