[HN Gopher] Analog: A simple productivity system
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Analog: A simple productivity system
Author : kkoncevicius
Score : 94 points
Date : 2022-02-11 16:20 UTC (6 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (ugmonk.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (ugmonk.com)
| autarch wrote:
| I assumed this was just a parody until maybe 3/4 through. Even
| then I had to click on through to the "buy" page to make sure it
| wasn't a joke.
| itsmemattchung wrote:
| I really love the simplistic, analog system. But, I'm more
| interested in the metadata of my habits, which is why I prefer a
| digital based system. How many tasks have I written down in the
| last week and not touched? How many tasks have I abandoned in the
| last 30 days. etc
| drKarl wrote:
| Full circle, back to using dead trees.
| cosmiccatnap wrote:
| flobosg wrote:
| (2020)
| rank0 wrote:
| This is fucking ridiculous. I like the sentiment but the dude is
| selling notecards and a wooden box for $100 + recurring
| subscription. This is like a caricature of modern day
| entrepreneurship.
| mlac wrote:
| Yeah... By chance the YouTube video of this come across my feed
| last night but hadn't looked at the price yet.
|
| $50 would have been questionable, would have pulled the trigger
| at $35. Odds are this will end in a pile of other flavor of the
| week productivity solutions (see bullet journal, panda planner,
| hipster PDA, moleskines and other notebooks).
|
| That said, I find just switching to a new system keeps me on
| track for a month or two of productivity boost, then I revert
| to my old ways.
| sdoering wrote:
| I remember when I stumbled upon the first video explaining
| the bullet journal method. Long before a Kickstarter or the
| idea of making money through the method.
|
| It was the first productivity/self organisation method that I
| could stick to. At least in parts.
|
| Nowadays, some 15 years later, I still use it but adapted to
| my needs. I use it with any notebook I have available. Even
| if I prefer Leuchtturm 1917.
|
| I don't use the index parts. But I use the markers for task,
| idea and so on.
|
| I also liked the start of ugmonk. The minimalistic shirts. Or
| the canvas bag. The I do it myself and build a business with
| well designed stuff. And a great deal of content marketing.
|
| But this product is imho purely ridiculous.
| mrmuagi wrote:
| Well compared to, say, sticky notes (I tried this, yuck) or
| Google Keep (also tried this), it's a bit more costly, but the
| subscription is not mandatory so it tampers that edge. But I'm
| not sure you can fully dismiss the value. Some find the
| aesthetics of rainbow sticky notes unappealing -- or dislike
| high tech solutions of web/mobile app for their proximity to
| other time wasting activities and vices -- there is appeal in a
| low tech, sleek and visually appealing card system like this.
| I've done some hobby woodworking, and even ordered cards
| printed overseas before to resurrect a board game that went
| extinct, and I think you can even make an argument you can DIY
| it much cheaper (sans labour of course) but anybody who's done
| a big enough project can relate that sometimes it's okay to
| defer that to someone else (who lives in Pennsylvania I assume)
| if it brings more time and value to you and you value the
| product -- and especially here where I would argue that value
| pays dividends in the future in being more productive due to
| the compounding effects of it all.
|
| But despite this all, I would align myself to your viewpoint
| just out of principle of having anti-consumerism alignment.
|
| > This is like a caricature of modern day entrepreneurship.
|
| Well, let me refer you to the wild hustle and bustle world of
| NFTs where you don't even get something physical!
| protomyth wrote:
| Heck, I thought Levenger https://www.levenger.com/ was a bit
| expensive. I do love using note cards and such for some
| organization, but I cannot give up search. I do admit I still
| use some CRC-like techniques when building software.
| [deleted]
| [deleted]
| garyrob wrote:
| I'm using this in combination with a Python script I wrote that
| sends me SMS messages for tasks as hard deadlines approach. So,
| if I get too distracted for some days, because of a technical
| issue or whatever, to pay much attention to the paper task
| process, I still get the SMS messages. Since I always check any
| SMS messages that come in, this prevents me from missing a
| deadline. And the physical setup of the Analog system means I can
| always aim my eye at the list that's standing up toward the side
| of my desk when I have time to do something. And adding something
| to the paper list is trivial; instead of having to navigate to
| the right app and type it in, I can just write a quick note on
| the paper that's always right there within immediate reach.
|
| I think that this combination is great for people with ADHD that
| can cause one highly compelling task or technical issue to take
| them over for days so that mundane tasks don't get done (or even
| noticed) for that period. At least it is for me.
| spicybright wrote:
| The SMS messaging is a great idea.
|
| I actually have a twillio + python SMS setup on a VPS that's
| extremely reliable, but haven't designed a better interface
| besides cron which is less than ideal.
|
| How does your system work?
| garyrob wrote:
| It just runs all the time on my laptop. Every day at 9 it
| checks a sqlite3 database to see if there are tasks for the
| day. That's running in a thread.
|
| The main process has a little interface with a menu that lets
| you input a task, view tasks, search for tasks by text
| string, etc. (I did do some work on it; it wasn't just a
| 10-minute project! But what the heck, I've needed something
| that would solve me problem for decades and nothing I found
| in the marketplace worked (for me)!)
|
| I'm thinking of making a web interface and allowing other
| people to use it.
| throwawayboise wrote:
| I have tried SMS alerts for various things. What happens is
| that I start ignoring SMS. So this isn't something that will
| work for everyone, especially if the SMS messages become too
| frequent.
| garyrob wrote:
| You are correct. I'm leveraging the fact that I do check SMS
| messages religiously, but that is not true for everyone.
| dpweb wrote:
| Same concept maybe, I use emails as my todos and snooze them to
| popup at the right time. Inbox always at zero so its easy to
| see something I gotta take action on. Things will definitely
| get missed otherwise and my email is always with me.
| garyrob wrote:
| I didn't know about snooze as an email feature, but a quick
| google shows it as something for gmail? Is that what you use?
|
| I see that there are 3rd-party solutions for MacOS. MacOS'
| Mail doesn't have that feature that I'm aware of. (I use a
| powerbook.)
| sigg3 wrote:
| Have you open sourced it? This sounds like something I'd
| benefit from.
| garyrob wrote:
| No I haven't but I've thought of doing so and/or making a
| freemium product out of it. Thanks for the encouragement,
| that inspires me to think about it more.
|
| I'm 65, and this current system is the result of about 4.5
| decades of trying to figure out a system that would work for
| me, including trying various commercial task lists and
| reminder systems.
|
| [edited: I wrote more text but deleted it because I don't
| think it was worth anyone's time to read. :) ]
| jamesvclements wrote:
| Love the SMS idea, it's the one thing I always check / have
| access to. Few months ago I setup a # I can text things I'm
| grateful for throughout the day and it saves them in Notion.
| Makes it a little easier to practice gratitude as cool things
| happen without needing a journal or separate app
| garyrob wrote:
| Thanks for the feedback. I may make this available publicly,
| but maybe after adding a web interface to it!
| egypturnash wrote:
| I am honestly surprised to find that the cards used in this
| incredibly overproduced riff on Getting Things Done's method are
| the same size as commonly-available index cards, so you can use
| the cute tray without spending $10 for a pack of 50 cards. Or
| maybe not - the tray has rounded corners designed to fit snugly
| with the branded cards, while a $5 pack of 300 blank white index
| cards from Office Depot has sharp corners.
| spicybright wrote:
| I'm going to sound like a party pooper, but the core market for
| these kinds of products are people that want to get organized
| so they buy these things to feel like they're doing it, only to
| put it at the back of their desk drawer after a week of use.
| egypturnash wrote:
| Yyyyyyep.
| swordsmith wrote:
| I actually LoL'd reading this. You can buy packs of 10 small
| notebooks (each the thickness of 10 of these cards) for $15 on
| Amazon, they work just as well if not better. A notebook is much
| easier to carry than a stack of cards with a wooden holder. It
| can be stood up against the monitor, water bottle, or even by
| itself.
|
| The bubble symbols...spoiler it's very easy to mark each item
| with "*", "+", "-", and any other arbitrary symbol with a pen.
|
| Great marketing on this product though, I'm sure many would buy
| it as a status symbol and make themselves feel better for having
| such an elegant productivity system.
| cle wrote:
| Some people like things that look and feel good.
|
| Personally I don't care about that, but I think it's fine that
| other people do.
| mcguire wrote:
| True. And the wooden case looks pretty nice. But still hard
| to carry around.
|
| I got one of these at the Atlanta Pen Show a while back:
| https://nockco.com/cases/fodderstack-xl
|
| In a glorious one-off color: baby blue and hot pink.
| [deleted]
| thebean11 wrote:
| Yup this is hilarious. Maybe I'll start selling special sticky
| notes you can put on your monitor.
| m463 wrote:
| People probably don't remember "Macintosh Post-it notes" from
| Saturday Night Live...
|
| https://youtu.be/6Q-BH8j06pM
| masukomi wrote:
| speaking as someone who bought this:
|
| * for me it's not a status symbol. I work at home. No-one but
| me uses or sees my desk. My desk is filled with clutter so you
| wouldn't notice it even if you did. I doubt my wife has noticed
| its existence. I don't run around telling people about it
| unless they specifically mention seeing/wanting something
| similar.
|
| * it's specifically _not_ for carrying around. it's for sitting
| on your desk. "easier to carry around" is not a feature for
| _this_.
|
| * I don't have space on my desk for a notebook standing up. I
| don't want to use up that much visual real estate. I would hate
| to have it on my water bottle or anything like that because i
| use that constantly and that would be damn annoying.
|
| * yes, the bubble symbols are nothing special. but they had to
| print _something_ there to address the idea of checking of the
| task and their choice seems perfectly valid to me. I don't
| think anyone believes they're some revolutionary idea.
|
| * yes, although you didn't say it, i could use standard 3x5
| note cards with it. I may do so. It wouldn't really make a
| difference.
|
| suggesting that folks who buy this are "mak[ing] themselves
| feel better for having such an elegant productivity system" is
| unnecessarily derogatory and dismissive.
|
| I seriously doubt that anyone who buys this actually believes
| it is a "productivity system". It's just a wooden note card
| stand with some cards that match its aesthetic. I don't think
| anyone believes they're more functional than a deck of blank
| 3"x5" cards from the corner store.
|
| I like things that look nice. This looks nice to me. I am also
| more likely to use something that looks visually appealing to
| me than something that looks janky. So, i _could_ spend money
| on a cheap-ass solution, or 3d print some plastic equivalent,
| but i wouldn't use it long and the result would be wasted money
| and goods. I've been using this for months and like it very
| much.
|
| your whole tone is dismissing this as if everyone who bought it
| is a dupe, too stupid to realize it's something more than it
| actually is. That's like suggesting that everyone who buys a
| Rolex with diamonds (or whatever) all over it somehow thinks it
| tells better time, or will get them to their meetings better,
| than a cheap quartz watch. I don't think that's reasonable at
| all.
|
| Liking "nice" things (for whatever your definition of "nice"
| is) doesn't mean you loose IQ points when you indulge that
| affinity. Buying nice things you enjoy is not a bad thing.
| Choosing to surround yourself with items that make you smile is
| not a bad thing. We shouldn't try to make people feel bad for
| buying things they like. (ignoring the minimalism / consumerism
| debates)
| porcoda wrote:
| I've tried these kind of systems with pre-printed
| forms/lists/labels on cards or pages. I'm not convinced they're
| worth the extra $ beyond my good old fall back: a couple
| different colored post it note pads and notes organized around
| the edge of my monitor.
| TameAntelope wrote:
| I love post it notes! I stick them semi-randomly around my
| desk/on my monitor and they give me a real-time sense for how
| I'm doing:
|
| * I stack the completed ones, productive days have fat stacks.
|
| * As my desk gets more cluttered by post it notes, it triggers
| my desire to "clean" my desk, by accomplishing the work.
|
| * I periodically re-assess the utility of the work, which keeps
| me focused on the most important things.
|
| * Their specific location on my desk is a fuzzy ranking system;
| the more inconvenient the sticky note, the higher priority. For
| example, I'll put a sticky note in the middle of my monitor if
| it's _immensely_ important to more or less prevent me from
| working on anything else. Other times they can go next to my
| keyboard, further way on the edge of a desk, and I 've
| occasionally hidden sticky notes (not entirely) behind
| speakers, if I just need to remember the information but don't
| want to be distracted by acting on that info just yet.
|
| It's not very portable, but when I'm at my desk it's worked
| pretty well to keep me on task.
| porcoda wrote:
| I also like that I can prioritize things by sticking them to
| my laptop next to the trackpad. Important notes that need to
| follow me away from the desk often get stuck there.
| dboreham wrote:
| I have a problem with any paper-based solution which that the
| paper tends to disappear (or become lost). This effect becomes
| worse if you work from multiple locations, go on vacation etc.
| Each transition between work location introduces the potential
| to lose track of the paper. That said, I think a paper system
| is a good way to debug the workflow prior to creating a
| persistent software implementation.
| protomyth wrote:
| On a tangent, does anyone know where you order custom cards from?
| I have always wanted 3x5 cards with a little bit of white space
| on top (for a title) and then isometric graph paper for the rest.
| gcr wrote:
| I saw this last year! You can replicate this system with a stack
| of index cards and a hair tie. :)
|
| You can even make the top card stand at a similar angle if you
| want: take the top card off the stack, bend the edge inward by
| 120 degrees or so, and tuck that "hook" of the bent card back
| into the hair tie to stand it upright. You can even put a pen in
| there. It's great to take to the store for shopping!
| wsinks wrote:
| Thank you for doing the design work for me! I'm literally
| copying the well thought drawn in system.
|
| I was just wondering how I would make the wood thing, and now
| you've inspired me to have this system on my desk by the end of
| the day. Brilliant!
| spicybright wrote:
| Yup! You can also buy a flash card holder, which is a plastic
| case that's index card sized if you're so inclined.
| egypturnash wrote:
| A binder clip works well too. It's the Hipster PDA!
| http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/03/introducing-the-hipster-...
| Arubis wrote:
| This was also my first thought! Everything old is new again.
| allenu wrote:
| I immediately thought of the Hipster PDA as well. I'm so glad
| the page is still up after all these years!
| protomyth wrote:
| I thought of this: https://www.levenger.com/stationery-
| notebooks-322/pocket-bri...
|
| Because you might as well go in style.
| Eighth wrote:
| I understand the sentiment, and it's a nice looking bit of desk
| clutter, but if you're looking for a organising tool, just buy a
| cheap notebook for pete's sake. Keeping a notebook on your desk
| is invaluable if well used.
| calculated wrote:
| I really hate everything that tries to bring your focus back to
| you as it should be. I think it's all bull*hit. The one true
| thing is that focus is on the psychological side and we just have
| to deal with discomform, that's how you win, not by buying some
| magic paper.
| mcguire wrote:
| The best system I came up with:
|
| 1. Get a small spiral-bound notebook, say 3x5 or whatever is
| sitting in the supply cabinet.
|
| 2. Write today's date on the top of the first page. Write each
| task on _one line_ on the page. (You only need enough detail to
| remember what the task is.)
|
| 3. As you complete tasks, draw a line through them. It's more
| satisfying that check marks or whatever.
|
| 4. As you add tasks, just write them on the today page.
|
| 5. Or, if you know you aren't going to get to them until
| tomorrow, write tomorrow's date at the top of the next page and
| put them down there.
|
| 6. Or, if you know you can't get to it until Monday, write the
| dates on the pages in between, one page per day, until you get to
| Monday and write it there.
|
| 7. At the end of the day, look at the list of tasks you didn't
| get to. Carry them over to tomorrow's page and mark them out on
| today's. It feels great.
|
| 8. Try not to carry too many over to any particular day; after
| two or three, put the rest on the next day's page. Some days I'm
| only good for one or two things.
|
| It's all about a) making sure you remember things, and b) making
| sure you aren't overwhelmed by what you have to do at any one
| time. (I almost never move a task _up._ )
| jperras wrote:
| I tend to avoid self-promotion, but this was just too on the
| nose to ignore: what you've described is almost quite literally
| the functionality of https://teuxdeux.com.
|
| We like to say that our biggest competition is pencil & paper.
| KennyBlanken wrote:
| Ah, but that wouldn't let someone charge a subscription of
| $10/month for thirty small pieces of paper.
|
| For comparison's sake: a small-ish clairfontaine cloth-bound
| notebook costs about $10
| [deleted]
| unexistential wrote:
| After years of trying to be productive with to-do apps, I've
| found that nothing beats the flexibility of plain old pen and
| paper. Even analog systems like Analog or Bullet Journal impose
| rules of varying inflexibility, and that made them very
| unappealing, for me at least.
|
| I guess this is because people have different ways of thinking
| about goals, tasks and timeframes. For me what works best is a
| 'week todo' that contains coarser/larger tasks and a daily todo
| that contains more granular tasks, often sub-tasks of the
| weekly ones. Adopting this method has made me more productive
| than I've been in years.
| hkhanna wrote:
| This reminds me a little bit of the "bullet journal" technique
| [0]. It will make a great gift for my very todolist-oriented
| spouse!
|
| [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_journal
| keb_ wrote:
| LMFAO
|
| All jokes aside, this looks really well designed and thought out,
| but the pricing is hard to justify even if you're the type of
| person who can drop $100 on a block of wood and index cards
| without wincing, especially if you're the kind of person who is
| self-aware of their socioeconomic status. I do applaud the
| creator for giving an overview of how he came up with Analog in
| the intro video (which includes him mentioning he first found
| success with index cards).
|
| I do agree with him that it's hard to stay on track when using
| digital productivity tools. I use a whiteboard I bought at
| Walgreens, draw a bunch of checkboxes on it, and keep that over
| my desk, so I can't ignore it.
| dmje wrote:
| Hilarious. $65 for a pack of index cards and a block of wood.
|
| Good on em if they can make this work. It's genius. For all the
| wrong reasons.
|
| I started worrying about "my method" when I was 14 and back then
| my revision time largely involved colouring in new and
| increasingly complicated revision timetables.
|
| 35 years later and I've finally nailed it: stop fannying about
| with endless "techniques". Stop procrastinating with the latest
| task fad. Stop buying new software, new hardware, new (lol)
| blocks of wood and index cards.
|
| Instead, just do. The. Work.
|
| It might involve a notepad, it might involve a task app. But
| either which way, push the how to the back and bring the do to
| the front.
|
| Turn off email. Turn off your phone. Turn off notifications.
|
| This is the true way that work gets done.
| [deleted]
| rileytg wrote:
| for me the $35 stand is well worth it. i've been following
| something like this pattern for 15y, and the stand just makes
| it a little easier and more pleasant. I couldn't make this
| kinda thing for less, i don't have a wood shop.
| smoldesu wrote:
| What's stopping you from buying a pack of miniature notebooks
| from Amazon/Staples/Office Depot/Alibaba for a fraction of
| the price? What are you getting with this system that cannot
| be replaced by a cheaper, more versatile solution?
|
| Sorry if this sounds antagonistic, but I'm trying my hardest
| to wrap my head around a $30/month paper-as-a-service
| solution.
| cultofmetatron wrote:
| after all this time, I find the mist effective way to get shit
| done.
|
| pen and notebook. I write down my objective for the day and the
| smaller steps required to accomplish that. Then I just mark
| down as I go.
|
| no complicated process needed, just do it
| surfmike wrote:
| I bought a similar card holder on Etsy for $20 and been a fan:
| https://www.etsy.com/listing/859030214/task-card-holder
|
| And these todo cards off Baron Fig for $10 (they have a dot
| pattern and a todo pattern):
| https://baronfig.com/accessories/strategist-index-cards
| galfarragem wrote:
| If you like analog, you may get some tidbits from here also[0].
|
| [0] https://github.com/slowernews/hamster-system
| cobertos wrote:
| It almost feels like we have to divest from the current
| technology landscape to be productive again
| dpweb wrote:
| In the past I'd eyeroll at $100 for some index cards, as
| something for the 20s/single/300k programmer crowd. But these
| look great I have to admit its tempting. I like 2 or 3 things on
| my desk MAX and it does matter those things are pleasing to look
| at 14 hours a day.
| valyagolev wrote:
| I use Nobo memo board, which is a horizontal whiteboard that fits
| well under my display and is very nice for a todolist
| ctrlp wrote:
| For anyone looking for a non-precious, well-designed analog
| companion for work, I've really enjoyed using David Seah's
| Emergent Task Planner notepads [0]. They're great if you've got a
| busy day interspersed with meetings. I like the full-sized
| version. You can print them up yourself or just pick up some very
| nice pre-printed pads from his store [1].
|
| [0] https://davidseah.com/node/the-emergent-task-planner/ [1]
| https://shop.davidseah.com/
| yboris wrote:
| side-note but related: a 1-page year calendar
|
| This is my favorite way to organize a year - a beautiful design,
| one page to collect everything:
|
| https://davidseah.com/node/compact-calendar/
| defulmere wrote:
| +1 for Dsri Seah's tools!
|
| Their Emergent Task Planner kept me on track for years, and I
| still go back to it when I feel like my day is spiraling out of
| control. It's a great companion to my existing digital
| productivity tools.
|
| https://davidseah.com/node/the-emergent-task-planner/
|
| (edit: name correction)
| sandreas wrote:
| He should extend this to an analog "device" that can be used to
| structure meetings. I'd bet that companies would pay a lot for
| things reducing the cost of their meetings and you would need way
| more of the cards :-)
|
| Did you also once work in a company that was paying hundreds of
| dollars for SCRUM office utilities? :-)
|
| Now that I think about it, maybe I'll print some content of my
| article[1] notes onto cards and make a quick buck...
|
| Well, at least there is no obvious sign that something so secret
| about Analog, that it cannot be told in the video and that you
| can't rebuild it yourself without paying.
|
| I like it though (if you don't take it quite so seriously)...
|
| [1] https://pilabor.com/blog/2021/04/tips-and-tricks-for-
| meeting...
| stuckkeys wrote:
| This idea is not unique. I would be surprised if he has a patent
| for this.
| thenerdhead wrote:
| I've used this system for years, but never considered buying this
| overpriced product. I am quite sad to see this be so marked up as
| a designer / minimalist type of product to make productivity seem
| more sexy than it really is. I know people buy it, but it feels
| wasteful.
|
| I buy dotted grid index cards and use an old smartphone stand to
| keep it upright. Total cost is maybe $20 total for a couple years
| of supply. I use my own notecard template I came up with and
| bullet journal syntax for each line item. I plan only individual
| days with notecards. Usually it's one highlight(i'd be happy with
| my day if done) and three things I want to get done that day.
|
| The benefits of writing things down on paper are insane. It
| definitely sticks better than apps or websites that provide
| similar functionality and syncing. I usually use todoist in
| combination with my notecards. I see the notecard method as my
| daily "tactics" and a notebook or app as my longer term
| "strategy".
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(page generated 2022-02-11 23:00 UTC)