A single running text file

What matters here

• Zero setup and zero lock in
• Works in any editor, on any machine
• Grows without structure
• No state, dates or reminders
• Old items look identical to new ones

Why it works at first

Writing a line is the fastest possible capture, and a plain text file will still open in thirty years. For a small number of open items, it is genuinely enough.

Why it stops

There is no way to mark something done except deleting it, so the file becomes a mix of live and dead items. Finding the live ones turns into rereading everything.

A step up without complexity

Split one file into a dated list and an undated backlog, then clear the dated list weekly. That small change fixes most of what breaks, without adopting a system.

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading

• Relying on meeting recordings instead of notesRecording a call feels safer than writing during it, and it shifts the work to later. This looks at when that trade is worth it and when it is a delay.
• Keeping reference material in a filing cabinetA cabinet is a durable, private archive. Its weakness is that the index exists only in your head, and heads forget.
• How do I organize a move?A move is a fixed deadline with a hundred small dependencies. It works best as a dated checklist grouped by who is doing what.