I'm ADHD and Org-mode has majorly improved my capacity to organise my life, because it has let me create a system that integrates most things I do in a way that works for me and my quirks.
My current setup is....
- Capture todos as they pop into my head, inbox, browser, rss feed, etc, into a simple daily.org file whose parents are the dates of the events. Here's the org-capture-template:
("c" "Do on date" entry (file+olp+datetree "~/org/daily.org")
"\* TODO %? %^G\n%t\n%a\n" :time-prompt t :clock-resume t)`
It outputs a tree like this:
** 2021-10 October
*** 2021-10-01 Friday
**** TODO Reply to Cecile about buying keyboard :PERSONAL:
<2021-10-01 Fri>
[[mu4e:link-to-email][Re: Hello]]
*** 2021-10-04 Monday
**** TODO Haircut :PERSONAL:
<2021-10-04 Mon 11:00>
- If it's part of a big project or more of a datastore, give it its own org file, and refile captures there. Use org-taskjuggler for Gantt charts.
- If it's a long standing task (eg work on book, read Practical Common Lisp) set it up as a habit so that not only it repeats at the desired intervals but I get a diagram which says how well I've kept it up.
- Anything to do with friends and birthdays go in contacts.org, so that I can keep an eye on how much I see people.
- Load up Org Agenda and commit to a todo by clocking in (I). I almost never check how long I've spent, it's more just about committing to myself. Mark things as done (t d) as appropriate.
- Archive DONEs ($) intermittently rather than immediately, so that I can remind myself that I've done stuff.
Stick to the rule that TODOs are only for things I expect myself to actually do, rather things I want myself to want to do. (my cycle is TODO DOING WAITING HOLD | DONE CANCELLED SCRATCH).
I used to have different org files for different projects/aspects of my life but refiling things created too much friction. Most things just need to go into daily.org, and that's fine.
ADHD here too. I use org-super-agenda and a central TODO file to manage my stuff. I've got like 10 capture templates--homework, personal, email followups, etc.--and since they have tags, I have org-super-agenda filter them into sections like OVERDUE, Homework (7 days in future), Future Homework (>7 days in future), Emails, Habits, Personal, Projects (basically any TODO with TODO children), etc.
I've also started using org-roam and I'm loving it for capturing my thoughts. Because hell knows I need some way to keep my thoughts a little more organized and a little more permanent.
One problem with Emacs and i3wm and Linux I've found as an ADHD person, though, is that the customizability lets me never be satisfied and spend more time screwing with stuff than actually working. I've never had a specific workflow or strategy last more than like 2 months, and most last like 2 weeks.
> I've also started using org-roam and I'm loving it for capturing my thoughts.
I've tried with Org-Roam but I find the idea of breaking thoughts into little bits very awkward when I mostly work with philosophical books, where the priority is the relation of a concept to the others in the same book, then to the author, then maybe school, then to other authors. I haven't figured out how to model that in org-roam, but maybe there is a way? I also like to divide my notes into folders based on their author (awkward for multiple authors, I admit), but org-roam seems built to keep everything in one massive folder. I just use plain org files and grep around for relevant other stuff.
> the customizability lets me never be satisfied and spend more time screwing with stuff than actually working.
Yeah, I hear that. The one above is the most stable workflow I've come up with after numerous iterations. Keeping it as simple as possible, basically a super powered todo list or bullet journal, has helped, i think.
> I find the idea of breaking thoughts into little bits very awkward when I mostly work with philosophical books, where the priority is the relation of a concept to the others in the same book
Then don't! I'd just make a file node for each book and take regular notes within that.
> I also like to divide my notes into folders based on their author
You could roam-tag them or link them to a page for the author. I've only been using roam for about 2 weeks, but so far, I set up my file nodes like so:
#+filetags: :tags:othertags:
#+title: Something Interesting
This is a brief description of something interesting. It's just a sentence or two.
Links: [[id:12345][Something related]], [[id:23456][Very cool stuff]], [[id:34567][Absolutely amazing things]]
* First section
* Second section
And so on. It works pretty well so far.
> a super powered todo list or bullet journal
My main problem is I keep changing themes and the format/way I take notes. I haven't actually messed with my agenda or anything in about 6 months, and if I do, it's usually just something minor like adding a new group or sorting by lowest effort.
Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad they're useful to you.
org-ql is a search tool. It provides an alternative to some parts of org-agenda and integrates with it to some extent. Its searching is much faster and more powerful than the built-in Org search tools; see its documentation for details.
I have tried maintaining a todo list in Emacs, but I just never got used to it, even though I "live" in Emacs. Instead I hung a whiteboard next to my desk and just write down everything I have to do here, and it seems to have been more effective for now (not sure if it will change when the pandemic is over...).
My current setup is....
- Capture todos as they pop into my head, inbox, browser, rss feed, etc, into a simple daily.org file whose parents are the dates of the events. Here's the org-capture-template:
It outputs a tree like this: - If it's part of a big project or more of a datastore, give it its own org file, and refile captures there. Use org-taskjuggler for Gantt charts.- If it's a long standing task (eg work on book, read Practical Common Lisp) set it up as a habit so that not only it repeats at the desired intervals but I get a diagram which says how well I've kept it up.
- Anything to do with friends and birthdays go in contacts.org, so that I can keep an eye on how much I see people.
- Load up Org Agenda and commit to a todo by clocking in (I). I almost never check how long I've spent, it's more just about committing to myself. Mark things as done (t d) as appropriate.
- Archive DONEs ($) intermittently rather than immediately, so that I can remind myself that I've done stuff.
Stick to the rule that TODOs are only for things I expect myself to actually do, rather things I want myself to want to do. (my cycle is TODO DOING WAITING HOLD | DONE CANCELLED SCRATCH).
I used to have different org files for different projects/aspects of my life but refiling things created too much friction. Most things just need to go into daily.org, and that's fine.