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Org-mode also offers tagging support. If you add it to your agenda, you can filter things out by tags. Org mode also has excellent mobile support. All your to

Org-mode also offers tagging support. If you add it to your agenda, you can filter things out by tags. Org mode also has excellent mobile support. All your todo items, schedules etc. can also be viewed in your phone. Another plus-side is that it is completely text based. You don't have to worry about internet access, operating system, age of the machine, the medium you want to use. You can quickly export org-mode schedules as pdf/tex/html/txt etc. If you cannot meet your schedules, you can make a note yourself on why you couldn't meet it and simply reschedule. The core functionality of org-mode is actually simple. I'd suggest giving org-mode a chance. 1) Create an org document 2) Set some tasks as headlines 3) make them todo items by typing C-c C-t 4) schedule them to a certain date with C-c C-s 5) add the org-file to your agenda by C-c C-[ And you've got a working project schedule. M-x org-agenda to view your schedule.

TeMPOraL 9y ago
Could you and GP share more about your project management setup (and ways you use it) in org-mode? I do use org-mode quite a bit, but for project-specific notebooks, I usually quickly get mentally overwhelmed with the volume and mix of finished/unfinished tasks. I can feel the problem is in the way I use it. Somehow the same content, put in a crappy kanban-style web board, doesn't seem as overwhelming (even though it's an order of magnitude less efficient to work on than it is with org).
- gkya 9y ago
  Org has archiving and sorting built in, you can sort entries such that the completed ones sink to the bottom, and archive them to an archive file. With sparse trees you can filter out uninteresting entries, and with org-goto jump around more easily. Frankly I haven't maintained any big or medium sized projects, and for anything with more than one regular committer I'd probably want to have something like Trac or Github or just make it a GNU project if applicable. Still though I can imagine using an org file in conjunction with a mailing list (a Google group, even), but I don't have practical experience with such setup. A Readme.org for me is a description of the project followed by notes and a hierarchy of issues i.e. to-do items. Also, when starting out sometimes I use src blocks to write initial bits of a script while exploring the data or the library I'm planning to work with.
- terminalcommand 9y ago
  I mainly use org as my daily agenda. Inside my agenda I keep my projects. I note when I've worked on them, what problems I encountered etc. Then I schedule tasks to certain days. I always make sure that I leave enough free time inbetween and if I'm feeling tired I reschedule the items. This workflow works for my side projects. For more serious work I open up a seperate org file. I quickly note what parts need to be done, capture my thoughts on them, make a plan and start. If my plan doesn't work I note why it hasn't worked, my current thoughts then I alter the plan. The most important thing IMHO is to be able to capture what you're thinking honestly. Over a time you can analyze the logs and make better decisions. In the past I've tried GTD, no plan and just Pomodoro, kanban etc. and they all worked miraclously at the start but my productivity suffered as time passed by. Because with these constructs I was forcing myself to work all the time. My new method is to treat my org-agenda as sacred, I try not to schedule many items for a day. I give an honest effort to make them happen, but if I can't or psychologically don't want to I reschedule/cancel them without feeling any guilt. Org-mode is fairly simple if you stick to the basics. You need to devise something that will work for you. Be that a giant file where you keep everything with tags. Or be that a Readme.org for every project. What matters is that you plan ahead and actually stick to it.
- unhammer 9y ago
  I keep all paid work in a work.org file and clock in/out of headings there. The basic structure is * Projects Customer X * TODO issue 42 breakage SCHEDULED: <2018-02-12> Customer Y * subproject foo TODO fix slow frobnication SCHEDULED: <2018-02-09> * Ideas * Misc When I get an e-mail or something about a new task, I use org-capture to turn it into a TODO with a link back to the e-mail and a default SCHEDULED value, and I hit C-c C-w to refile it directly into customers/subprojects (otherwise they end up under Misc and I'll refile later). I always clock into the task I'm doing, and I use the clocktable (limited to a time range) to figure out how long I've worked on what for my invoices. Since I switch tasks a lot, and didn't like how the recent-tasks-lists was emptied on restarting Emacs, I ended up writing a little helper package at https://github.com/unhammer/org-mru-clock https://github.com/unhammer/org-mru-clock to let me quickly clock in to recent tasks (also lets you navigate to recent tasks if you use ivy). I do something similar to user terminalcommand, where I schedule tasks in my agenda, so when I open my work-agenda, the stuff that needs doing is always there. I might leave "sometime-maybe" tasks/ideas unscheduled (like "try shiny new library"), but anything people are actually asking me fix will be scheduled. It's really easy to push things towards the future in the agenda, so it's not really overwhelming, even though my work.org file is now at 11677 lines (and I see my work.org_archive is at 6403 – maybe I should archive more things, but it's not like I notice the size). For collaboration, I use whatever other people use (trello, wikis, meeting notes in etherpad checked into SVN).
  - unhammer 9y ago
    ugh, my line breaks got lost. Trying again since I can't edit: * Projects ** Customer X *** TODO issue 42 breakage SCHEDULED: <2018-02-12> ** Customer Y *** Fooproject **** TODO fix slow frobnication SCHEDULED: <2018-02-09> * Ideas * Misc
aerique 9y ago
Could you elaborate on Org mode's excellent mobile support? Are you talking iPhone, Android or both? I've only got experience with Android and MobileOrg is a pain in the ass to setup and sync. The workflow is a hassle. Orgzly looks nice and is good for read-only usage but entering notes in it is awkward. Takes too much time compared to, for example, Google Keep. Are there other solution out there that I am not aware of or am I just not using the existing apps correctly?
- TeMPOraL 9y ago
  Seconded. I've been repeatedly trying to work with MobileOrg and Orgzly, and while the latter had finally turned into something functional, stable and actually usable day-to-day, I'd still call Org mobile support severely lacking.
- terminalcommand 9y ago
  I keep my org files in dropbox and use beorg on my iphone. Whenever I make changes it immidiately shows up on my phone. I get notifications at scheduled times. I've set it up once and never had to configure anything again. Although I must admit that I only use the app passively to look at my weekly schedule. I haven't used it to make quick captures.
rthomas6 9y ago
I want to try Org-mode but the problem is I don't know Emacs (and am very proficient at Vim).

TeMPOraL 9y ago

Could you and GP share more about your project management setup (and ways you use it) in org-mode? I do use org-mode quite a bit, but for project-specific notebooks, I usually quickly get mentally overwhelmed with the volume and mix of finished/unfinished tasks. I can feel the problem is in the way I use it. Somehow the same content, put in a crappy kanban-style web board, doesn't seem as overwhelming (even though it's an order of magnitude less efficient to work on than it is with org).

gkya 9y ago
Org has archiving and sorting built in, you can sort entries such that the completed ones sink to the bottom, and archive them to an archive file. With sparse trees you can filter out uninteresting entries, and with org-goto jump around more easily. Frankly I haven't maintained any big or medium sized projects, and for anything with more than one regular committer I'd probably want to have something like Trac or Github or just make it a GNU project if applicable. Still though I can imagine using an org file in conjunction with a mailing list (a Google group, even), but I don't have practical experience with such setup. A Readme.org for me is a description of the project followed by notes and a hierarchy of issues i.e. to-do items. Also, when starting out sometimes I use src blocks to write initial bits of a script while exploring the data or the library I'm planning to work with.
terminalcommand 9y ago
I mainly use org as my daily agenda. Inside my agenda I keep my projects. I note when I've worked on them, what problems I encountered etc. Then I schedule tasks to certain days. I always make sure that I leave enough free time inbetween and if I'm feeling tired I reschedule the items. This workflow works for my side projects. For more serious work I open up a seperate org file. I quickly note what parts need to be done, capture my thoughts on them, make a plan and start. If my plan doesn't work I note why it hasn't worked, my current thoughts then I alter the plan. The most important thing IMHO is to be able to capture what you're thinking honestly. Over a time you can analyze the logs and make better decisions. In the past I've tried GTD, no plan and just Pomodoro, kanban etc. and they all worked miraclously at the start but my productivity suffered as time passed by. Because with these constructs I was forcing myself to work all the time. My new method is to treat my org-agenda as sacred, I try not to schedule many items for a day. I give an honest effort to make them happen, but if I can't or psychologically don't want to I reschedule/cancel them without feeling any guilt. Org-mode is fairly simple if you stick to the basics. You need to devise something that will work for you. Be that a giant file where you keep everything with tags. Or be that a Readme.org for every project. What matters is that you plan ahead and actually stick to it.
unhammer 9y ago
I keep all paid work in a work.org file and clock in/out of headings there. The basic structure is * Projects Customer X * TODO issue 42 breakage SCHEDULED: <2018-02-12> Customer Y * subproject foo TODO fix slow frobnication SCHEDULED: <2018-02-09> * Ideas * Misc When I get an e-mail or something about a new task, I use org-capture to turn it into a TODO with a link back to the e-mail and a default SCHEDULED value, and I hit C-c C-w to refile it directly into customers/subprojects (otherwise they end up under Misc and I'll refile later). I always clock into the task I'm doing, and I use the clocktable (limited to a time range) to figure out how long I've worked on what for my invoices. Since I switch tasks a lot, and didn't like how the recent-tasks-lists was emptied on restarting Emacs, I ended up writing a little helper package at https://github.com/unhammer/org-mru-clock https://github.com/unhammer/org-mru-clock to let me quickly clock in to recent tasks (also lets you navigate to recent tasks if you use ivy). I do something similar to user terminalcommand, where I schedule tasks in my agenda, so when I open my work-agenda, the stuff that needs doing is always there. I might leave "sometime-maybe" tasks/ideas unscheduled (like "try shiny new library"), but anything people are actually asking me fix will be scheduled. It's really easy to push things towards the future in the agenda, so it's not really overwhelming, even though my work.org file is now at 11677 lines (and I see my work.org_archive is at 6403 – maybe I should archive more things, but it's not like I notice the size). For collaboration, I use whatever other people use (trello, wikis, meeting notes in etherpad checked into SVN).
- unhammer 9y ago
  ugh, my line breaks got lost. Trying again since I can't edit: * Projects ** Customer X *** TODO issue 42 breakage SCHEDULED: <2018-02-12> ** Customer Y *** Fooproject **** TODO fix slow frobnication SCHEDULED: <2018-02-09> * Ideas * Misc

aerique 9y ago

Could you elaborate on Org mode's excellent mobile support? Are you talking iPhone, Android or both? I've only got experience with Android and MobileOrg is a pain in the ass to setup and sync. The workflow is a hassle. Orgzly looks nice and is good for read-only usage but entering notes in it is awkward. Takes too much time compared to, for example, Google Keep. Are there other solution out there that I am not aware of or am I just not using the existing apps correctly?

TeMPOraL 9y ago
Seconded. I've been repeatedly trying to work with MobileOrg and Orgzly, and while the latter had finally turned into something functional, stable and actually usable day-to-day, I'd still call Org mobile support severely lacking.
terminalcommand 9y ago
I keep my org files in dropbox and use beorg on my iphone. Whenever I make changes it immidiately shows up on my phone. I get notifications at scheduled times. I've set it up once and never had to configure anything again. Although I must admit that I only use the app passively to look at my weekly schedule. I haven't used it to make quick captures.

rthomas6 9y ago

I want to try Org-mode but the problem is I don't know Emacs (and am very proficient at Vim).