# How to keep track of stuff you have to do **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 16, 2015, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-keep-track-of-stuff-you-have-to-do/731433 "2015-09-16T02:53:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-keep-track-of-stuff-you-have-to-do/731433/41 "2015-09-20T00:12:59Z")
Everything, and I mean _everything_ goes in the iPhone calendar. Appointments, bread, painting the house, you name it. The second it pops up, I begin typing. My life would probably cease to exist if my phone died. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2015, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-keep-track-of-stuff-you-have-to-do/731433/42 "2015-09-20T01:02:24Z")
Google Calendar. Since I also carry an Android phone, everything is always accessible no matter where I am. Reminders are timed for when I need them, like when I’m getting in the car on the way to drive home. I also carry a paper month-at-a-glance calendar which contains most of the same information. I say it’s as a backup, but it’s really just a habit that I can’t get rid of. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2015, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-keep-track-of-stuff-you-have-to-do/731433/43 "2015-09-20T03:11:42Z")
I usually hand write to-do lists into my Franklin Planner, whether they’re work or personal. If I’m supposed to be some place or have an appointment I put it in my phone and usually set a reminder for myself the night before or morning of just in case. Another thing I do so I’m at the right place at the right time, if I’m RSVPing to an event, if possible, I do it via e-mail and when I respond, I include some of the event details. I’m notorious for entering very high level information into my calendar, failing to note the location and realizing only after I’ve recycled the invitation. Putting the details in my response lets me go back to my sent mail and find that e-mail that said, “Thank you for including us - we’ll see you at Bounce U at 6 on the 3rd. Is there anything I can bring?” ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2015, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-keep-track-of-stuff-you-have-to-do/731433/44 "2015-09-20T06:09:52Z")
I use a combination of Google Keep and an Android app called “Business Calendar” to jot down and manage actual _tasks_. This go into Google Calendar with reminders at specific times on specific days. Then I make a weekly calendar of _scheduled things_ with MS Works calendar, and upload that, too, into Google Calendar. The end result is one integration of tasks and schedules (with reminders) that is synced and stored by Google Calendar, but with which I interface on Business Calendar (phone), or my work and personal computers. It’s a system I’ve developed over a long time, after trying out a lot of calendar and scheduling programs, and I really need it, because I have two jobs that are never routine, with constantly arising and changing tasks, plus all kinds of other things outside of work. Otherwise I’d go crazy. On any given day I might have 10 to 15 things I need to remember to do or be at at specific times, and a paper-based system could never keep up with it. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-keep-track-of-stuff-you-have-to-do/731433/45 "2015-09-20T16:27:01Z")
iPhone calendar app and moleskine notebook. I will also send an email from my work address to my personal address. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-keep-track-of-stuff-you-have-to-do/731433/46 "2018-09-20T16:39:15Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > I use Outlook at work (which syncs with my calendar app on my phone and ipad, for when I’m not at work) to keep track of events and deadlines. > > For keeping track of projects at work, I use [http://www.producteev.com](http://www.producteev.com) . It lets you break down projects into multiple steps, sub-steps, assign deadlines with alarms, delegate tasks to other people, etc. I also keep track of personal must-do tasks there, for things like reminders to make dental appointments, etc. > > I use phone apps for my grocery list (as well as keeping a paper list on my fridge), lists of home fix-it or craft projects I want to attempt some day, and lists of chores that are not done every week (like fertilizing my plants). We have been informed “producteev” is defunct. Jenny your humble TubaDiva Administrator ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-keep-track-of-stuff-you-have-to-do/731433/47 "2018-09-20T16:47:39Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > I have a wife. Makes a great alarm clock, too. Everybody should have one. This. They’re mostly all her events, anyways. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-keep-track-of-stuff-you-have-to-do/731433/48 "2018-09-20T17:20:37Z")
I’m playing with Trello for work and personal. It offers team participation, communication and notification for tasks. We’ll see if it helps. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-keep-track-of-stuff-you-have-to-do/731433/49 "2018-09-20T18:00:56Z")
I have no life, therefore i have no need;) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-keep-track-of-stuff-you-have-to-do/731433/50 "2018-09-20T18:02:51Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I have no life, therefore i have no need;) Those breakfast dishes aint gonna wash themselves! ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-keep-track-of-stuff-you-have-to-do/731433/51 "2018-09-20T18:29:38Z")
I have alarm clocks to remind me (forcibly) to get out of bed. I have two of them, one set two snoozes after the other, to avoid sleep-shutting-off the first one. I use my watch’s countdown timer to tell me when I should come back from lunch. I get an hour but don’t really have a fixed start time. I use my watch’s one alarm to tell me when I should get on my exercise bike each evening. My work computer has outlook and I use its calendar for work events, including upcoming vacations. We also use Microsoft Team Foundation Server to assign people to tasks and note what those tasks actually are. My home computer has a few alarm notifications set up (via a program called, I think, ‘alarm’) that remind me to do certain things that happen the same time each week, such as regular appointments, and when it’s time to leave for work. My home computer also has a ‘notes’ file that is constantly open, on which I note various things that I need to remember. I keep certain emails around for a while and check them periodically when I look for new emails - things like “birthday party!” or “this week’s movie”, which include in them the specific dates and times of the things. I stack bills and unrecorded receipts in a specific place near my computer to remind me to get around to dealing with them eventually. When I need to restock thinks like TP, kleenex, garbage bags, etc, I leave the final empty packaging container on the counter to remind me to restock it. I sometimes follow that up by writing myself a shopping list to help me remember to buy those things once I get to the store. When I run laundry I leave the fan on in the ‘laundry machine closet’ to remind me that there’s stuff waiting in the dryer. I will leave the empty clothes basket sitting smack in the middle of the room to trip over if I have something waiting in the washer, or sometimes to remind me that laundry needs doing at all. (I do laundry at need, not on a schedule.) When I need to run the dishwasher that evening, I leave it ajar that day. (Since I don’t cook and mostly eat near-ready-to-eat foods, the primary trigger for this is running out of spoons. And I have enough spoons that running the washer isn’t a regular thing.) The DVDs containing the movies and shows I want to watch in the future are set on specific shelves. There’s another specific shelf for ones I want to watch special features on, and a third for commentaries. There’s a place I put the lego sets I haven’t got around to building yet, separate from where I store previously built and subsequently dismantled ones. I think that covers most everything. (As you can probably tell, my memory needs a _lot_ of help.) ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-keep-track-of-stuff-you-have-to-do/731433/52 "2018-09-20T22:05:01Z")
At work I used Outlook for long-range planning and reminders of monthly or yearly recurring things. A legal pad on my desk kept the less important and within-the-next-few-days stuff. At home we use a kitchen calendar for appointments, birthdays, social engagements(not many), etc. There is a corkboard in our laundry room that has a few lists on it. One is grocery items that are added as we go so we don’t forget the odd things that slip our minds when doing the actual day of shopping grocery list. Another is for other household items that are more likely bought at Walmart, Lowes/Home Depot, Tractor Supply, etc. There is also an extensive honey-do list. None of that one is in _my_ handwriting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-keep-track-of-stuff-you-have-to-do/731433.md?page=2)