3 ms·

Show HN: Stop tracking TODOs. Start getting things DONE

21 points by Doches 5y ago

Doches 5y ago
Hey, HN! I don't know about you, but I'm an absolute sucker for productivity systems. Cards, pomodoro, todo lists -- I've tried 'em all, and stuck with a few. But the only thing I've found that actually encourages me to get shit done and doesn't encourage me to waste time organising lists and making plans is keeping a done list. What's a done list? Think of it as an anti-TODO list: your DONE list is where you write down everything that you've, well, done. You know that little dopamine kick you get from filing a neatly-tagged TODO or marking off something that you've finished? A done list is just that, and the only way to use it is to train yourself to stop organising and just get stuff done. Try keeping your own done list for a week, and you'll be amazed at how you can hack your brain into actively looking for projects you can finish and tasks you can check off, just so you can write down one more thing as DONE. You don't need fancy tools to write down a list, but if you're like me and you like having fancy tools check out https://donel.ist https://donel.ist -- a fast, easy-to-use done list tracker I built for myself. It's 100% free (no ads, "pro" tiers, or feature unlocks). And if you want to automate your done list or use it to automate other things, there's an easy-to-use REST API at (https://donel.ist/developer https://donel.ist/developer), too.
- tdubhro1 5y ago
  very nice idea; I've used Workflowy for a long time for todo-lists and keeping my "done" list is something I have to do manually as a workaround there. Having just played with donel.ist I can confirm it's quite compelling, satisfying and rewarding to note everything I've completed today, definite dopamine hit. I'd suggest you automatically colour new tags differently, and the UX for adding a new tag is a teeny bit clunky - you have to create the tag and then apply it. Also it might be nice to have the ability to add tags to an item just by typing "#work" into the main text entry box.
- null0x0 5y ago
  This is neat! Love the idea. Couple suggestions/feedback: Do you have any sort of privacy policy that you can add to your landing page? Can you link your REST API docs in the section where you get your API key? Double check your example requests, JSON is malformed in a few places :) I'm not able to add a custom color to a tag, I got a 500 when doing so.
nmstoker 5y ago
Looks good and it sounds psychologically appealing but this seems like exactly the opposite of what people who want something from you would want. The description says that people only care about what you've done, but if they're faced with a super long list of things someone has done they'll quickly switch to "did you do that thing we agreed yet?" (which translates into a question about your ToDo list and not you're Done list). If you direct then to your Done with the "if it's not on there I didn't do it yet"-mentality they'll likely lose patience with you as a colleague! This isn't to say that underlining achievement isn't a good thing, it's just not the only thing and generally it shouldn't be the main thing either if you're focused on future progress.
- Doches 5y ago
  > did you do that thing we agreed yet? I'll be the first to admit that this is a weakness of this system, if you can call it a "system". What I'm trying to do -- to myself, to be clear! -- is instill the habit of getting something, anything done. Once you've trained your brain to reach for difficult tasks and get 'em done, absolutely start prioritising which tasks you do first and so on. But for breaking the seductive habit of procrastination I'll stand by using a done list. It's a great psychological self-hack if nothing else!
  - nmstoker 5y ago
    Ah, got it. In that case I'm very much more taken by this approach - as a habit former to bootstrap yourself past a block it does seem like it could be pretty helpful
XCSme 5y ago
For some reason I smiled when I read the title, really good pitch/tagline! I noticed that it says "try for free" but I couldn't find any pricing section. Is it completely free? PS: I noticed that you are using Google Analytics (which is blocked by Brave browser by default), let me know if you are interested in trying my self-hosted analytics platform[0] as donel.ist landing page is the perfect fit for the current feature set (as it is a simple page with no dynamic elements, whose goal is to lead to or increase conversions). [0]: https://www.usertrack.net https://www.usertrack.net

21 points by Doches 5y ago

Hey, HN! I don't know about you, but I'm an absolute sucker for productivity systems. Cards, pomodoro, todo lists -- I've tried 'em all, and stuck with a few. But the only thing I've found that actually encourages me to get shit done and doesn't encourage me to waste time organising lists and making plans is keeping a done list. What's a done list? Think of it as an anti-TODO list: your DONE list is where you write down everything that you've, well, done. You know that little dopamine kick you get from filing a neatly-tagged TODO or marking off something that you've finished? A done list is just that, and the only way to use it is to train yourself to stop organising and just get stuff done. Try keeping your own done list for a week, and you'll be amazed at how you can hack your brain into actively looking for projects you can finish and tasks you can check off, just so you can write down one more thing as DONE. You don't need fancy tools to write down a list, but if you're like me and you like having fancy tools check out https://donel.ist https://donel.ist -- a fast, easy-to-use done list tracker I built for myself. It's 100% free (no ads, "pro" tiers, or feature unlocks). And if you want to automate your done list or use it to automate other things, there's an easy-to-use REST API at (https://donel.ist/developer https://donel.ist/developer), too.

tdubhro1 5y ago
very nice idea; I've used Workflowy for a long time for todo-lists and keeping my "done" list is something I have to do manually as a workaround there. Having just played with donel.ist I can confirm it's quite compelling, satisfying and rewarding to note everything I've completed today, definite dopamine hit. I'd suggest you automatically colour new tags differently, and the UX for adding a new tag is a teeny bit clunky - you have to create the tag and then apply it. Also it might be nice to have the ability to add tags to an item just by typing "#work" into the main text entry box.
null0x0 5y ago
This is neat! Love the idea. Couple suggestions/feedback: Do you have any sort of privacy policy that you can add to your landing page? Can you link your REST API docs in the section where you get your API key? Double check your example requests, JSON is malformed in a few places :) I'm not able to add a custom color to a tag, I got a 500 when doing so.

nmstoker 5y ago

Looks good and it sounds psychologically appealing but this seems like exactly the opposite of what people who want something from you would want. The description says that people only care about what you've done, but if they're faced with a super long list of things someone has done they'll quickly switch to "did you do that thing we agreed yet?" (which translates into a question about your ToDo list and not you're Done list). If you direct then to your Done with the "if it's not on there I didn't do it yet"-mentality they'll likely lose patience with you as a colleague! This isn't to say that underlining achievement isn't a good thing, it's just not the only thing and generally it shouldn't be the main thing either if you're focused on future progress.

Doches 5y ago
> did you do that thing we agreed yet? I'll be the first to admit that this is a weakness of this system, if you can call it a "system". What I'm trying to do -- to myself, to be clear! -- is instill the habit of getting something, anything done. Once you've trained your brain to reach for difficult tasks and get 'em done, absolutely start prioritising which tasks you do first and so on. But for breaking the seductive habit of procrastination I'll stand by using a done list. It's a great psychological self-hack if nothing else!
- nmstoker 5y ago
  Ah, got it. In that case I'm very much more taken by this approach - as a habit former to bootstrap yourself past a block it does seem like it could be pretty helpful

XCSme 5y ago

For some reason I smiled when I read the title, really good pitch/tagline! I noticed that it says "try for free" but I couldn't find any pricing section. Is it completely free? PS: I noticed that you are using Google Analytics (which is blocked by Brave browser by default), let me know if you are interested in trying my self-hosted analytics platform[0] as donel.ist landing page is the perfect fit for the current feature set (as it is a simple page with no dynamic elements, whose goal is to lead to or increase conversions). [0]: https://www.usertrack.net https://www.usertrack.net