aaron c beals

over the years, i’ve tried many (many) different ways of keeping track of the things i need or want to do. personally, i’m a huge fan of the list, which can take many forms: paper, emails, tasks in Outlook, tasks on a Palm Pilot, etc. however, what usually ends up happening is that my brain manages to circumvent the current method of task tracking, forcing me to switch tactics. finally, i believe i have found a method that works consistently because it’s right in front of me most of the day — rather than using individual emails to track to-do items (those emails scroll away as new ones appear), i have a to-do list that sits right next to the emails.

my to-do list of choice is Remember the Milk. unlike other web-2.0-ish online to-do lists, they don’t require you to visit their site to check your list (though you can if you’d like). they have built a Firefox plug-in that modifies the layout of your Gmail page to insert a collapsible to-do list right next to your email. you can add, edit, and complete tasks right from the interface — pretty much anything you need to do — and it’s all very seamless. if you’re in the habit of starring important emails, you can even automatically generate tasks for them.

anyhow, give it a try. it’s certainly helping me (until my brain finds a way around it, anyhow).