Why I Don't Use Projects In Todoist

A frequently asked question is if I don't manage projects in Todoist, how do I manage them. So, this week, I show you how I used to manage projects and explain why I changed it.
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#Todoist #Productivity #Projects

[@neb2612]

I manage lots of projects within different departments. I agree with your phylosophy and also that its very uninspiring to look at a list of tasks with no date or even a project with no tasks init. What I find important though is being able to see at a glance the heirachy of projects and areas of the business. If I see a project that has no tasks it motivates/reminds me to find tasks for it. Furthermore seeing the name of the project to the right of the task reminds me what the task is actually related to. I did take a lot from your Evernote project template and have decided to make google docs templates for my larger projects. Thanks for the content.

[@ryanbrownx1]

Perfect timing. I was literally thinking about this topic today. I'm trying to refresh my Todoist setup and this really helps!

[@Carl_Pullein]

Glad to have helped, Ryan.

[@robertgarvansnyder4665]

I like the notion of thinking about This Week, Next Week, This Month, etc, but I've realized that I do in fact need to have Project buckets, both for how my brain works, and because my wife and I have several collaborative lists, and Shared Projects are the only way to do that within Todoist. The workaround which I've found to be nearly identical, is to make Label categorie with This/Next Week/Month etc, and then have those marked as Favoites. Plus then, I can also have these sorted by Project within the Label view, so I can view both by when they need to be done, as well as what area the tasks live within.

[@Carl_Pullein]

Funny you should mention working on projects with your wife. The best collaborative project I've worked on recently was with my wife. We managed the whole project in a shared Apple Note, which was brilliant! If she needed to add an idea, she'd put it there. Plus, we shared files, documents and images all within the note. All I needed in Todoist was a reminder every few days to review the project note. Simple, and it kept Todoist clean, tight and focused.

[@leandro_80]

I can relate to this system! It makes a lot of sense. I tried to use Todoist as my project and task manager in the past, but it didn't work out. Since then, I've been trying to find the perfect platform to be my productivity system, but it turns out that there isn't a single solution for that. And the idea of constantly switching between apps leaves me tired and overwhelmed

[@Carl_Pullein]

You're right there; there is no single solution. It's a combination of apps working together.

[@justvic99]

Try amplenote. It aims to solve the exact problem you have.

[@pattyyoung7570]

I manage my projects in Evernote too for the same reason. My brain just doesn't like that cut and dry checklist without any information or overview or inspiration to it. I can see the Time Sector System being easily deployed using Evernote Tasks using the "by due date" view in the Task panel. Great video!

[@Carl_Pullein]

Agree with you there, Patty. Managing projects in a notes app, make a lot more sense.

[@swagatam8156]

How about managing the projects in Notion? Will that be a good idea?

[@m4500d]

Thank you it was so inspiring for me! so far i was working for the system all the time instead of system helping me to tick off tasks toward my goals in life. i feel motivated again :)

[@Carl_Pullein]

You're very welcome, Masood.

[@averagemamil4523]

Have started using your Time Sector System using Todoist and Obsidian. Todoist for the tasks and Obsidian for project management, notes and PKM. Using deep links between the projects, notes and tasks is a great combination. Only slight amend is I make the ‘This Week’ area a Kanban (Board) in Todoist with ‘unsorted -> today -> sometime this week -> Waiting/on hold’ . Also as I regularly use Windows, MacOS and Linux, it is completely cross-platform. Thanks for introducing me to your TSS. Really finding it useful 😀🙏 Edits: grammar and bad spelling 🙄

[@stevenonattack]

The Kanban board is a nice suggestion!

[@gabrielle4152]

Your comment is 2 years old, so I was wondering if you're still using the system you described to manage projects and tasks?

[@joshjohn77]

Thank you for this video! Going to switch to a Time Sector system now. I used Todoist for a year or so with diminishing returns and never understood the point of organizing things into projects which never informed me of anything. This is exactly what I needed to make it useful to me again!

[@Carl_Pullein]

Very happy to have helped, Josh.

[@hugofrom69]

Thank you for your video and this separation between task and project manager, it helps me a lot to understand why it was hard to manage all that in Todoist!

[@Carl_Pullein]

Happy to have helped, Hugo.

[@deew2932]

Mind-blown!! 🤯 I'm so glad that I came across your video. Thank you!!!

[@Carl_Pullein]

You're very welcome.

[@danjustice1751]

Really interesting to hear your description of the traditional GTD system-- I thought it was just me who was terrible at organising! Looking forward to trying out the time sector system

[@Carl_Pullein]

I think the problem is the speed of life and work today, GTD is just too slow. There’s far too much maintenance and that’s why we need a faster way to manage our work.

[@davidluce4527]

Thank you for this video, even though I missed it for two years. I migrated my tasks management into Evernote because of its promise, two years ago, to incorporate tasks into the structure of notes and notebooks, exactly as you have cobbled together. After two years of waiting for Evernote to provide the kind of task management tools already built into Todoist, I am regretfully resigning myself to this hybrid of note taker and task manager. I wish that a single tool could track the project tasks as well as the one, and collect the project narrative as well as the other. Your video gives a coherent explanation of adaptation to the strengths and weaknesses of the two programs. Instead of splitting jobs by time sector, I use the labels in Todoist for keeping the context of the various tasks, and I find that is one of its greatest strengths, completely missing from Evernote Tasks. Producing action lists for my various daily situations puts the management into task management.

[@Carl_Pullein]

For me, it's about being focused on what I want to get done today and not worrying about tomorrow or any other day. The thing that matters is today. I'll worry about tomorrow when it comes. (Too many things can change in a day)

[@alinajmaldin]

Thanks for the video. What I do so that the tasks don’t just die out in projects is a Weekly Review.

[@Carl_Pullein]

I wish more people would do that, Ali

[@gstevens62]

Thanks Carl! As a school principal I have countless tasks that have to be completed on a daily basis, as well as projects that have to be managed. I've been watching your videos for a few years and your Time Sector system (yes, I took the course) and project management process has helped me rethink and streamline my processes. I love the way you manage projects in Evernote (I've been an Evernote user since 2013). How do you organize your projects within Evernote? Do you keep each project in it's own notebook within a notebook stack?

[@Carl_Pullein]

Hi Glen, I have a master projects list that allows me to see what I am currently working on. Here's a video I did on that recently: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYupg6CNhK2MidU

[@adamwatkins3447]

Great setup, had similar progression in the classic way. I followed similar with bullet journal and it was great and simple. Thanks, will try this out!

[@Carl_Pullein]

You're very welcome, Adam.

[@lukaszpomorski5710]

Comparing the two systems is fantastic. Makes advantages of one over the other much clearer.

[@Carl_Pullein]

Glad you liked it, Lukasz

[@birdiewolf3497]

This actually resonated with me. I was considering the GTD system, but even just hearing about it didn't really click with me. But this definitely did. Thanks!

[@Carl_Pullein]

Glad to have been able to help.

[@grahamr56]

The glaring omission here is not mentioning the Kanban Board functionality of Todoist for managing project activities. With that you don't lose the activities as they are completed (just move them to "Done") and you have a much better visual grasp of the overall picture.

[@itschasemac]

This is genius!

[@rcbuyer]

Not really sure, but my guess is boards layout was not available 2 years ago when this video was recorded.

[@antsfone4313]

Been watching for a while and you have really helped my workflow! I really wanted to take a deeper dive into the project Goldeneye template you used. I downloaded it and wanted to know which video covers the creation, usage, etc of it. Thanks and keep up the top notch content!

[@Carl_Pullein]

I don't have a video on developing the template. It's sort of evolved over time.

[@chaugulepankaj]

Wow! Thanks for explaining the new perspective towards task management and project management. 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

[@Carl_Pullein]

You're very welcome, Pankaj.

[@andrewpalaski1552]

Preaching to the choir about the TS system by now for me, but still a great reminder! If you haven't tried it, you should!

[@Carl_Pullein]

Glad you like it, Andrew.

[@dolipops]

I've had some to dos LOST for 5+ months now, I'm DEFINITELY going to try this system, I think this is exactly what I needed. I use Notion, personally, for all my video projects and inquiry up keeping/journalling, etc. So I just need to mirror this. Sincerely, I appreciate this video, OMG. I've almost never had a video SO similar to my own setup. Wow.

[@Carl_Pullein]

Glad to have helped, Eric. Good luck with your set up.

[@ClemensAdolphs]

Hi Carl, here's one question I have, and maybe it's worth a video at some point: What about commitments that are more about cultivating a mindset rather than doing one specific concrete thing? Just some examples could be like "I want to be more patient with my kids" or "I want to be learn to be more outgoing"?

[@petere5065]

I'm actually thinking about the same thing as well. I'm entertaining the idea of almost task batching or time blocking for this, somewhere at the beginning or end of the day, and then adding filters/labels to tasks that tie them to those batches or blocks. Still a work in progress, so we'll see.

[@CeMFrance]

Thank you very much Carl: I felt I spent too much Time to maintain my Todoist instead of doing tasks and I didn’t Know how to solve! So the time sector System setting is completely answer my needs to keep control on my plannings. I Just have to transpose Evernote with OneNote or Trello (both already used from my side) thank you again!

[@Carl_Pullein]

You're very welcome. Always happy to help.

[@swagatam8156]

OK so I found this video after wasting ton of time by simply overthinking. Thanks for this video…I needed this very much…NowI have to arrange my Todoist tasks accordingly!!

[@Carl_Pullein]

Good luck :-)

[@andrewethanhirsch7968]

Excellent - Carl you've done it again - great tutorial - excellent examples. Any chance you can put the project template on your website?

[@Carl_Pullein]

I could. I'll look into adding it soon.

[@melindakaltenbaugh6139]

I love the concept! The one thing I keep thinking of is that every 2 weeks I have to fill out a timesheet. The projects would help me understand which cost code to put my time against. Also, that would keep me from having to write 'set up meeting for ' or 'blah blah blah ' to distinguish it from a similar task for project y. Also, to distinguish personal from work related items (what I focus on during work hours and what I focus on after hours.) Do you have any suggestions for that?

[@Carl_Pullein]

Hi Melinda, you can make doing the time sheet code part of the process. You get to create whatever process you prefer and then create a checklist for that process to ensure all parts are being done in the correct order.

[@safiulfaiyaz7038]

You also could use filters with the prompt !saturday(Or any other day) & #inbox etc & then use that as a list for time tracking tasks

[@jasonshore1917]

Hi Carl. Great video! I can ask why you use projects to define timelines like “this week”instead of just using Todoist filters to do the work to group based on due dates?

[@ClemensAdolphs]

The point of a project like "Next week" or "This Month" is tasks in those projects DON'T get a due date. They just get put into these projects so that they're off your inbox and come to your attention again once you do the weekly or monthly planning. Only the tasks that you decided you want to tackle THIS WEEK will get a specific due date based on your calendar.

[@Mentalcheez]

Makes perfect sense. Thank you for this wisdom.

[@Carl_Pullein]

You're very welcome.

[@timbushell8640]

... and yes... the heavy lift of the what, etc. as a note, and split out the details as dated tasks, via a time blocking reminder system. Calendar or a "ToDoIst" feeder system to 'you' reliably, such that the week and daily planning/review efforts are not wasted.

[@devarni]

Do you transfer tasks for content you plan in Asana to Todoist or do you leave them in Asana? Simple example: you plan a video or a blog article in Asana (or in Evernote). Where are the tasks that result from this, e.g. editing the video, planning to publish it, uploading it to Buffer etc.?

[@Carl_Pullein]

I've stopped using Asana. I've worked on the process for so long now that became a step in the process that was no longer needed. (I'm always refining and seeking better and more efficient ways to get my work done)

[@devarni]

Yes, I understand! It also makes sense to leave out steps that are not necessary. You have your ideas and projects in Evernote and then plan them in Todoist and your calendar?

[@Carl_Pullein]

@@devarni I keep a content idea note in Apple Notes (Evernote is horrible on iOS) and I use that to decide what I will be writing or recording. My calendar has enough time blocked out each week for creating that content. Todoist tells me what I am writing (blog post, podcast script) or recording, mt calendar directs me to what activity I will be doing.

[@carriefrancis3571]

Thanks Carl. Managing my project in Evernote rather than in the task manager has been helpful. As other comments have stated, the checklist is dry for me too. I'm not clear on how you use your project plan with your Master Task List? Do you brainstorm or track meetings in separate notes then migrate generated tasks to your project plan and then master task list? not sure how you use them together. Great Video!

[@Carl_Pullein]

Hi Carrie, I think this video will explain things a little better for you: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYupg6CNhK2MidU

[@darkdepth1991]

Hi Carl, thank you for this amazing presentation !

[@IAmSam_TheMan]

Great stuff!!!!! But you gotta do more of the Evernote set up and share that template, please.

[@joergen_b_hovde]

Hi. This was a very useful video to me. Especially the projects outline document. Thank you! Have used Todoist for several years, and have not used the "projects" bar in Todoist apart from having one "project" to collect all the entries in (and a few "projects" to archive "tasks" from short intensely busy periods where I did not have the capacity to maintain the workflow in Todoist(!) ). Have used labels a lot though. Perhaps what are termed "projects" in Todoist may be more suitably thought of as "project categories", at least for the way that many people seem to use it ("work", "private" etc). Projects (and simple tasks , goals and intentions too really) may go in the "generic project category" of work etc. Edit: Or maybe it can be thought of as categorized inboxes (using the concept of the inbox from the GTD-methodology).

[@Carl_Pullein]

Glaad to have been able to help, Jørgen.

[@periteu]

4:40 - 😔Im doing this atm haha 😂 5:57 - Im using Loop Habit Tracker for those type of tasks. Habits. 9:02 - Interesting.

[@colinpowda]

Simply brilliance.

[@Carl_Pullein]

Thank you.

[@terrymadeley]

I did laugh at that line at 4:40 about adding arbitrary dates to tasks just to stop them disappearing - exactly what I do! Or I should say, exactly as I *used to do* before watching this video!

[@Carl_Pullein]

Have admit, I've done that a few times in the past too.

[@ernestocruz7953]

Do you manage meeting notes from the project within the project note? Or do you store that elsewhere?

[@Carl_Pullein]

Meeting notes related to projects are kept within their project folders in my notes. All other meetings will depend on what they are for. Most of these random meetings are kept in a dedicated meetings folder.

[@accentontheoff]

Nice. If I understand it correctly you’re completely bypassing projects, and going directly to time sectors? Vis-à-vis something like Goldeneye how do you remind yourself to spend time on it. Is it added to your calendar. Or do you just remember it spontaneously since it’s important.

[@Carl_Pullein]

It's generally obvious which projects need attention, and I will highlight these when I do my weekly planning. This way, I can see how much time I have available to work on the projects. This way, if a project deadline is fast approaching, I can choose to cancel some of my other commitments where possible (or accept that there will some late nights coming up LOL)

[@accentontheoff]

@@Carl_Pullein Got it 😅😀

[@TheRealJohnnyCash]

Carl, when it comes to the tasks related to projects that you add to your task manager, what label does it go under?

[@Carl_Pullein]

It would go under the type of work involved. For me, any task that requires me to write will be labelled "writing". Any task involving a client, will be labelled "Clients" and any task involving some form of communication would be labelled "Communications".

[@TheRealJohnnyCash]

@@Carl_Pullein so if I’m understanding this correctly just because it’s a project/goal doesn’t matter. It would still be labeled according to the work and not labeled as a project/goal.

[@Carl_Pullein]

@@TheRealJohnnyCash That's correct. It doesn't matter where the task is coming from. All that matters is it needs to be done. From there, you can group the tasks together by type of task it is. Communciation tasks can all be done together, as can writing or planning.

[@michaelklunk599]

Awesome! Super helpful Carl!

[@Carl_Pullein]

Thank you found it so, Michael.

[@joaovitorlara]

this is great for projects! But what about managing multiple clients? Wouldn't it be easier to create a sequential list (budget, survey, project, delivery) within todoist than creating all of this in evernote? I'm wondering if this wouldn't be more agile for cases where we have multiple clients.

[@Carl_Pullein]

Ooh, I have around 150 clients, and trying to manage these in Todoist would be a nightmare. In Evernote (in my case), I can access any client's information with a simple search in less than a second. I also have complete freedom on the information I keep there.

[@thejackleader]

Once you put them in projects though they don't show up in the inbox, today or up and coming?

[@Carl_Pullein]

They do if you add dates when you do the weekly planning session.

[@chrisrondinelli2801]

Carl, great video. I have been tracking projects in Todoist for a while and it gets cluttered and I miss alot of stuff. I have been an Evernote user for years as well, but not using it effectively.

[@Carl_Pullein]

Hi Chris, managing your projects in Evernote gives a lot more clean space and room to develop your projects properly and make them a lot more inspiring.

[@sebastianvelez2478]

Awsome video Carl! Does Todoist moves your "Next Week" tasks to "This Week" automatically when the week has ended? And if not, how do you avoid having tasks stuck permanently under "Next Week"? Do you move them manually to "This Week" at the end of the week?

[@Carl_Pullein]

Hahaha, no, it doesn't, and that's good. One of the purposes of this system is to force you to complete a weekly planning session. If you're not planning the week, no system will ever work for you.

[@ppcastro32]

I would like to know if I can change my email account because my subscription to Todoist is registered to my email personal account but I need to use the Todoist extension to add emails from my work. What can you recommend to do? Thanks for your advise and for every video you have shared to take advantage of Todoist. With regards, José, from Mexico.

[@Carl_Pullein]

Yes, you can. Go to your settings and account. From there, you can change your email address.

[@robertbrewer1871]

HI Carl, thank you for this, it helps. I am curious, I have been collecting into Evernote for years, but not thought of it as a project manager. Is the layout of your project manager for your Goldeneye project a template that can be found? I am not the greatest at customizing programs - it simply is not my strength. I make messes of it frequently. I love the multiple functions of the example you used for managing the long term project. It looks pretty complete in terms of content, reference, and action planning.

[@Carl_Pullein]

Hi Robert, here's a template I've created and shared before: www.evernote.com/shard/s14/sh/002083c5-1447-f2dd-390d-711306707d46/2ae0d108e73f00d2170ef826e609b840

[@parkersrules9191]

Carl, what are your thoughts around time blocking some of the recurring areas that make since (work on podcast, weekly planning session, record videos, etc.) onto your calendar vs having them pop up into a to-do list?

[@Carl_Pullein]

Hi Allen, in my every-day Todoist, that's how I do it. I have blocks for writing and recording. Todoist is a placeholder to tell me what needs working on in those sessions of work.

[@cldaniel80]

Is there a way to use this system when you also assign tasks to people within projects? I currently share certain projects with people, but wouldn't want to give them access to my version of "this week".

[@Carl_Pullein]

Hi Curtis, I would suggest you create a separate folder you can share with your colleagues. That way you have a central place where you can see what's been done and what has not been done. You can use labels if you wish to separate things by project.

[@cldaniel80]

@@Carl_Pullein Thanks

[@ivomota]

Hi Carl. But, for example, if your project is small, will you still create a note in Evernote? The GTD definition of project says that if something as more than one step it is a project, so a project can be something with just 2 ou 3 tasks... Do you have all project (also small ones) in Evernote? Thank you Carl

[@Carl_Pullein]

I don’t subscribe to the GTD definition of a project. Simple tasks-even if they require three or four steps, don’t become projects. I just do the next step and the what then happens becomes obvious. For instance, arrange winter trip to visit my parents involves a number of steps, but the only thing in Todoist is : book flights. That’s all I need. Once that’s done, where I will park the car, whether I need a hotel for staying overnight will be obvious once the flights are booked.

[@ivomota]

@@Carl_Pullein thank you for your answer. It's a good point.

[@Frank-xu5oy]

Ist looks like made for me ;-) Thanks for the Video Carl!

[@Carl_Pullein]

You're welcome, Frank.

[@malcolmstephenson556]

Excellent review!

[@Carl_Pullein]

Thank you, Malcolm.

[@andreadale2354]

Hi Carl, A question. What if I cannot remember which task in TD is associated with a particular project in EN? That's an issue I had to address when using ToDoist and did so by using projects for ummm projects. I am not saying that's the answer, just noting how I have dealt with it so far. I would like to adopt your time sector system and use EN for my projects just not sure how to address this particular challenge.

[@Carl_Pullein]

Hi Andrea, I use the Evernote note link to link the task to the note if I think I might not know which project it is linked to. However, for the most part, I only allow myself to focus on one or two projects at a time (stops me feeling overwhelmed) so this problem rarely arises. Alternatively, you can add the project name to the comments field or the description.

[@andreadale5788]

@@Carl_Pullein Thank you Carl!

[@emilyrichards8828]

Carl, great video and really like your approach to simplifying GTD. One question, I like your “This week”, “Next week” approach but I also find grouping task by activity e.g. Call, email, etc. and then time blocking for that activity works well. Any advice on combining this approach?

[@Carl_Pullein]

Hi Emily, You can use labels for the types of activities you block out on your calendar. I do this with my communications. I group them all together into an hour session each day. While I don't send email to Todoist, I do have a folder in my email called "Action This Day" which has the goal of being cleared every day.

[@emilyrichards8828]

@@Carl_Pullein Thankyou - this is super helpful.

[@toucan7433]

i looooove your evernote template !!!

[@Carl_Pullein]

Glaad you like it.

[@samueltremblay275]

It's the third time I watch this video and I don't get the idea of creating folders with time scale name and then adding tasks to them with in the vast majority already with time. Why not creating filters with specific time range and tags in case of tasks without time specific date. I found cumbersome to have for example to have to change the date of a task and them also having to move it into the related time slot. If I would have to change the task and don't have to do any additional step, that would make sens. I really try to catch your main idea. I personally create boring folders with area of my life like you said like personal, work, family but then I create filter like ThisWeek and then filter to grab all tasks from those criteria. The only disadvantage I have is I'm not able to sort tasks inside filter view except using priority. With project like the one you propose, project are like filters but the ability to custom sorting except if you group tasks. Does your course give more explanation about these ambiguities I have? Thanks :)

[@Carl_Pullein]

Hi Samuel, the only folder that has any dates is my This Week folder. All my other folders are free of dates (unless I know for certain when a task has to be done). It is during the weekly planning session that I will add dates to new tasks I intend to complete the following week. Using labels adds a layer of complexity I do not need. It slows down my processing (I have to remember to add a label) and increases the risk of missing something if I forget to add a label. When processing my inbox all I need to decide is when I will do a task. If it’s this week, I will add a date. If I don’t need to do the task this week or I don’t have time, I will drop in into an appropriate folder, knowing I can decide when I will do it when I do my next weekly planning session (every Saturday morning). Hope that helps.

[@1200owner]

@15:30 I don't know if Todoist have changed it since this video was made but the only syntax I can get to work for this is [taskname](Hyperlink)

[@Carl_Pullein]

They have changed it it since this video was published.

[@senseibas8199]

Hey carl, in one of yohr courses you dive deeper into projects. Just cant seem to find it.

[@Carl_Pullein]

There would be two: Time Sector System and Your Digital Life.

[@senseibas8199]

@@Carl_Pullein thank you verry much!

[@mattmcburney8063]

I know in previous videos you use floating projects (copying tasks from Evernote into Todoist so you can schedule them). In a recent video, I think you mentioned keeping your Todoist more tight by not doing floating projects. Any advice on which one you think works better? Just working out of a task list in the project note app or brining them over? Thanks!

[@rickconklin]

I saw in this video where you copy/ pasted some tasks out of your Jamaica project to Todoist. Now that EN has tasks, why not just add a divider and create a section within your EN project for tasks and then drop Todoist?

[@Carl_Pullein]

Hi Rick, for me, Evernote is a notes app and I like to have hard boundaries between my productivity apps. I have 12,000 notes in Evernote so having some of those notes with tasks and some tasks in Todoist would just create confusion and lost tasks. Todoist is a task manager with the ability to create recurring tasks. Evernote is a notes app, that doesn't allow recurring tasks.

[@rickconklin]

@@Carl_Pullein I think EN isn’t done. When they add recurring tasks, I can live in one app

[@Carl_Pullein]

@@rickconklin From what I'm hearing, Rick, you could be waiting a very long time. Evernote is first and foremost a notes app. They are not trying to become a task manager as well. The people at Evernote have a long list of note-taking app features they want to roll out and improve first.

[@geraldalan9895]

Thank you Carl for the very informative and useful video. I've started to use Apple's apps, Notes and Reminders, for doing the same thing (I'm following your tutorials here in KZbin). One thought occurred to me was, when I review a project, how do I know that I've created a task in Reminders? I don't want to have to search Reminders every time. You answered if for me. You highlight the task in Notes. Great Video!

[@Carl_Pullein]

You're welcome, Gerald. Glad to have answered your question.

[@basedpatriotLT]

why would you create tasks in the inbox and only once the inbox has many tasks you assign them to appropriate projects/folders? Why don't you assign the task to the correct project at the moment you are creating it?

[@Carl_Pullein]

There would be a number of reasons: brainstorming / mind-dump, Quick capture using your mobile phone, Keyboard shortcut capture when working on something else. Etc

[@succerella]

For future me: • 9:11 - Project template

[@DemetriPanici]

This is very interesting! Personally I love projects but to each is their own!

[@Carl_Pullein]

Absolutely, Demetri. There's a system for everyone.

[@dKause]

Why not use tags/labels for this?

[@Carl_Pullein]

I'm very strict on how I use labels. I keep them to eight and they correspond to my time blocks in my calendar.

[@YourDigitalMakeover]

Another awesome video. I would like to see you do a video on making thumbnails.

[@Carl_Pullein]

Thanks, Jerry. With my thumbnails, I play around in Photoshop. I find it very relaxing.

[@YourDigitalMakeover]

@@Carl_Pullein This one is your best thumbnails. Very catching to the eye. All the elements flow very well together. Quite impressive.

[@Carl_Pullein]

@@YourDigitalMakeover Hahah thank you.

[@KhaledKhaled-dj6mf]

Can you please make a video how to setup todoist for The One Minute to do List by Michael Linenberger

[@Carl_Pullein]

Hi Khaled, the One Minute to-do list is another take on the Eisenhower matrix. I did do a video on this a while ago. This should give you some ideas on how to set up the One Minute To-do list. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mKTdqZWjpbJsoqM

[@energyeternal]

I am consdering using time sector system in notion (ppv). anyone have thoughts on implementing this?

[@zahnooomat]

Very inspiring!

[@Carl_Pullein]

Thank you.

[@sunil.khatri]

Good stuff Carl

[@Carl_Pullein]

Glad you enjoyed it, Sunil.

[@jermz79]

Did you end up inviting Miles to collaborate?

[@marcelomontero7446]

Thanks very useful

[@Carl_Pullein]

You're very welcome, Marcelo.

[@accentontheoff]

Project Goldeneye. Nice 🙂

[@Carl_Pullein]

Thank you.

[@ryanbrownx1]

Carl, I have a question! In your actual system, do you separate "THIS WEEK - WORK" & "THIS WEEK - PERSONAL" so you can zoom into the work task while at work and personal task while at home or anywhere else?

[@Carl_Pullein]

Hi Ryan, no I don't. To me, a task is a task. It doesn't matter where it comes from it still needs doing. I found separating work and personal adds a level of complexity I don't need.

[@ryanbrownx1]

@@Carl_Pullein Thanks for answering Carl. Agree!

[@basedpatriotLT]

So why evernote does not ad tasks to their app? That way you (and many others) would not need todoist on top of evernote and evernote would take more market share. Are there any programs that combine both? As I hate to use 2 apps for that, I would prefer 1

[@EdThompson]

Do you handle each video you create as a Project? Do you just have a list of tasks for each video?

[@Carl_Pullein]

No. I have a list of topic ideas. On a Wednesday, I pick one and plan the videos. On Friday, I record the videos and on Saturday, I edit. I treat these as recurring tasks.

[@aliasgur3342]

You are quite right but my OCD won't allow me not to allocate them to Projects!😂

[@frankvet1]

Well, I love the "boards" view in the project window but think it makes no sense that having a column showing "completed tasks" without making the default view SHOW COMPLETED TASKS is a mistake and quite odd that this feature is not a basic setting in the app!?!?! At this point, I'm creating a "non-completable task" when using the board view and simply move the tasks that have been completed over to that column. Heck, even in the task view, the app should somehow have a default setting to "always show completed tasks". How the heck would I remember what tasks have been done as I view the progress of my project other than repeatedly selecting the menu item and toggle "show completed" every time I enter my project boards? No bueno TD-ist. (I'm sufficiently baked into the program now to switch everything over to Notion, Clickup etc..! What is this dev thinking?

[@Carl_Pullein]

Interesting point. Tasks managers haven't made it easy to show completed tasks. The idea is once a task is done, it's done. If you want to record of what's been done and when, then traditionally, we've used project managers as it could an important element in that kind of software.

[@gracejaklik2617]

So you must move last month to this month, and this week to next werk

[@Carl_Pullein]

Glad to have been able to help, Grace.

[@critical-chris]

You have a point there. I think I will try it. But one thing that bugs me in your comparison is that although you are right in saying that your system uses less brain energy, you kind of doing double work in your system, at least when it comes to tasks due this week: you have to schedules them *and* add them to "this week". That felt somewhat redundant...

[@Carl_Pullein]

I only schedule them during my weekly planning session. I am looking for balance out my week based on my appointments. This way each day is manageable and not overwhelming.

[@critical-chris]

@@Carl_Pullein I was reacting to the video at around 6:47 , for example, where you "schedule" the car errand twice, once for your time sector and once for your the actual due date. In fact, I have tried your system during the past day or so, and I kept running into the same issue. I have to try it a bit more, but it seems that since Todoist isn't built for this, it adds some friction to the process.

[@Carl_Pullein]

@@critical-chris Ah, I see. I only add dates to next week's folder if I know when I will do it. The car service example would be if I wanted to get the car in next week. 90% of the time once I know I am not doing something until next week I won't date it until my weekly planning session. That said, if I am processing on a Friday (or Sat/Sun) I am more likely to add a date.

[@Johnsoncrna]

What happens when “Next Week” becomes “This Week”? Do you do a weekly review and move “Next Week”’s task to “This week?”

[@Carl_Pullein]

Yes. That’s correct. The weekly planning takes around thirty minutes and you can then decide what goes into your This Week folder then

[@hiroyan2023]

So since you are not using Todoist as project management tool, you might not use Kanban type. Don't you?

[@Carl_Pullein]

That is correct.

[@hiroyan2023]

@@Carl_Pullein Oh, I got it. Then asana might work for me now. Then following you slowly, I might move to Evenote. This is a lifehack point. Thank you.

[@maikeru_pk]

I watching your videos from years... but I've never get what give you task manager without an context 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@Carl_Pullein]

I focus on what I want to accomplish each day. I avoid low-value tasks as much as possible. This way I don't need contexts.

[@justvic99]

Couldn't one just use anydo and save oneself the time you'd spend arranging things into your THIS WEEK and NEXT WEEK etc etc ?

[@Carl_Pullein]

That's a critical part of being productive. Having the time to slow down, stop and look at what you are committed to and making decisions about what is important and what is not.

[@justvic99]

@@Carl_Pullein Understood. Thanks

[@conlomerate4841]

You are conflicting yourself. Here are the video titles, which are all your videos in the last 24 months: - Why I don't Use Projects in Todoist - How to Create Projects in Todoist - How I Manage Projects in Todoist - How I Manage Projects With Todoist & Evernote - Planning Your 2022 Projects in Todoist - WARNING! Todoist Is NOT a Project Manager - Why You Should Be Using A Single Actions Project in Todoist - Managing A Project With Todoist & Evernote Are you using Projects with Todoist or not, impossible to tell. Repetitive and conflicting. What is your point of view? Really?

[@Carl_Pullein]

My goal is to help people create a system that works for them. No one way will work for everyone so I do videos on multiple different ways to use Todoist.

[@danielhaven]

"Projects" is a horrible term. They're more akin to lists, which TickTick has, although Todoist lets you infinitely nest them. Using a note, like w/ Notion or Evernote, to encapsulate a project dashboard is a much better system, although you can use a Todoist "project" or TickTick "list" to hold a kanban board that can be linked within your note.

[@Carl_Pullein]

Thanks for sharing, Daniel.

[@maikeru_pk]

Carl! It's horrible 😁 To work and private task you need two other instances of Todoist... There is another structure, another labels...

[@Carl_Pullein]

Indeed.

[@camarosspr]

Unbelievable, The guy complains todoist is a glorified todo list And then goes and uses Evernote as a project manager 2 disparate systems with all the problems that comes from it Imagine what he does next, chop wood w a hammer?

[@Carl_Pullein]

Don't other people use a hammer to chop wood?

[@camarosspr]

Complains todoist is a glorified todo app And then uses Evernote as a glorified project manager Imagine managing a mess of hundreds Evernote’s, unbelivable

[@Carl_Pullein]

I suspect your definition of "Complain" and mine is quite different.

[@timbushell8640]

01:36... ... first joke of the day. : ))))) ... and more mono-links. : )))))

[@JuanPerez-ql9nt]

It's all about visualization