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This kind of reminds me of the "One Big Text File" thing that was a popular subject a while ago[1][2]. I haven't attempted it, but if I did, it would probably b

• civilized 5y ago
  Hey there!! I've been doing "One Big Markdown File" for about three years and I can highly recommend it [1]. Do it in a highly responsive text editor with Markdown highlighting, like Sublime. You get the simplicity and responsiveness that keeps you writing at the speed of thought, and the highlighting provides a perfect balance of "just enough structure to keep you sane" while "minimizing formatting distractions". I have so, so much to say about how to make this approach work. Please AMA if you have any interest in this. [1] OK, full disclosure, my main file does sometimes spawn child Markdown files for particular projects. I don't apologize for this! A lot of the challenge around sustaining a useful to-do list over multiple months and years is managing the cruft of your thought. If the document gets too crufty or weedy, it becomes an impediment to thought rather than an aid, and you will let it languish. I have a pretty detailed system for mitigating this risk. Spawning child documents for the weedy stuff + "link" to the child in the main is an important technique here. (Once we start talking about links you might imagine we could use a wiki, but the most important property of the system is to stay lightweight and at-the-speed-of-thought - I use it to capture requirements during meetings, for example.)