Friday iFAQ: The Hit List
Every Friday we publish a list of inFrequently Asked Questions and answers to help you, the Crazy Apple user, get more out of your Crazy Apple products.
This week: The Hit List: Yet Another To-do List Program (YATDLP)
Q: Do we really need YATDLP?
A: Have you done everything you need to do?
Q: Of course not!
A: Are you putting things in contexts, basing your allocation of time on your roles and goals, and continually sharpening the saw?
Q: You’re mixing productivity paradigms, I think…
A: So what, now you’re saying it’s Covey or Allen, not both? Because you’ve got it all figured out, I guess. Well, I should just phone up Merlin Mann right now and tell him I’ve finally met the person who’s got it all together! Won’t he be excited!
Q: I didn’t say I have it all together! I just don’t see why I can’t use Todoist, Task Paper, Things, Remember the Milk or any of the other programs that are designed to keep me on task and doing what I’m supposed to be doing. Why do I need another one? What makes this one better?
A: Oh, so you don’t need new features? You think that AppleScript is passé, and you have absolutely no need to measure how long you’ve spent on a task. You’re just too good for that sort of thing, I suppose?
Q: I’m not saying that The Hit List doesn’t have good features, I’m just wondering where the trade-off is.
A: Or maybe you don’t need to sync with iCal… What trade-off?
Q: At what point do we start losing productivity to learning and re-learning our productivity software?
A: Wait, you…you mean, just stick with a system?
Q: Well, it was a thought…
A: So, just pick a product, get to know it, and just…use it?
Q: I wasn’t saying you couldn’t look at other software, I just thought…
A: I don’t think you’re serious about your productivity.
Q: Oh, I’m serious! I want to be more productive in the trendiest way possible, just like the rest of the productivity pack!
A: I should take away your moleskine journal and stack of index cards for even suggesting that the path to efficacy is so…so mundane.
Q: No! not my index cards!
A: Personal productivity is a quest, not a destination! You can’t just claim that you’ve suddenly found a program that works for you and just use it!
Q: No, of course not! You’re right! I’ve got to keep looking for better ways to do more, focus on the most important things, get things done, make friends, influence people…
A: That’s right. Keep those mantras flowing.
Q: …Move the cheese, melt the iceberg, praise Allen, Blanchard, and Mann, Hallelujah.
A: Hallelujah, brother. Now go, use The Hit List in peace, compare it to other programs, and write blog posts weighing its merits and weaknesses.
Q: I will.
A: Good. We won’t speak of this again.
Wow, a Friday post that is posted on Friday. Who’d have thunk?
I still have “get to-do list software” on my to-do list.
Well, since you ask, I am too good for it.
How’s the new kid on the block?
Finally home from the hospital and cute as they come. Our children have a tendency to want to make grand entrances. They’re funny that way.
Hope all the kids have long, happy and healthy lives. Best to the wife who made it all possible.