10.06.08

Hiveminder, my one true (task-managing) love

Posted in productivity at 11:03 pm by rachel

I know that the first rule of getting organized is to find a system that works for you and use it. I know this. But I am also a complete sucker for shiny new organization tools. As a child, one of my favorite places to go was the school supplies section of UW’s University Bookstore. I would examine all the Trapper Keepers and backpacks, imagining the system each might create. 

Of course, every time I used one of these items, whatever system I had designed would inevitably break down into appalling messiness: while I really, really liked organization systems, I was really, really bad at sticking to them.

This trend followed me into the digital realm, and online - I make systems and then I cut corners, and then everything goes to shit. Over and over again.

Until I found my soulmate.

Hiveminder has three key features that run my life:

• Braindump. Hit enter between tasks and just keep typing until you don’t have anything else in your head. Great way to relieve that “omg so much to do I’m screwed” feeling - I may be screwed, but at least it’s all in the system.
• Task Review. Takes you through all your tasks one at a time, giving you limited options: mark as done, say you’ll do it today, say you don’t want to see it until Saturday, until Monday, or for a month. Then it congratulates you on making it through the review (”That wasn’t so bad, was it?”) and shows you the tasks that you said you’d do today.
• Ability to hide tasks until some date. This “safe procrastination” feature is crucial for me, because otherwise I practice unsafe procrastination (and forget things I’m avoiding).

Now, while Hiveminder and I have a solid relationship, I have strayed occasionally. Never for longer than 3 months. But about once a year I’m drawn in by some other, shiny new organizational toy. But Remember The Milk had too many options to fiddle with and I found myself fiddling instead of actually doing tasks. In Nozbe, processing tasks was too time-intensive, plus they hit me with an upsell. I tried a series of text files syncing across my devices, but I was much less effective when I had to manually move things around. And none of them had any safe procrastination support, so they ultimately failed me.

In the end, I always come back. I wonder if I’ll ever learn? Probably not. As long as there’s a new shiny, I can’t help but check it out. But I do so knowing that Hiveminder is waiting for me with open arms, ready to get my life back in order and let me get back to getting stuff done.

Check it out: Hiveminder

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