I run both Vikunja (project management software; I’m not affiliated, just a fan) and Task Fiend (to-do list software; I’m the author and a fan). They live harmoniously together. I wanted to pontificate about how that happens.

In short, I expect to do everything in my to-do list software eventually. I don’t like to think about that because it’s suffocatingly overwhelming. But the idea is that none of those things are wild hares - I’ve consciously decided to do each.

Sadly, sometimes that means that project management software is where ideas go to die. I’ve heard people say you shouldn’t hang on to ideas that you don’t think you’ll actually do. If I don’t write them down, my brain hangs on to them. Now I can tell my brain, “Don’t worry, we wrote that down, it’s there if the time becomes right for it.” I know that I probably won’t revisit it, but don’t tell my brain that.

Some projects exist in both places. Parts of a project I will definitely do are in Task Fiend. Things I’m still ruminating on are in Vikunja. Contrary to the prior paragraph, some things do make it to Task Fiend. But not all do.

I don’t really have a grand thesis with this post. I just like to geek out on productivity stuff. If you’ve read this far, I suspect you do too.