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https://github.com/davesteele/todo.txt-gtd

My recipe for customizing todo.txt for Getting Things Done
https://github.com/davesteele/todo.txt-gtd

getting-things-done gtd task-list task-management task-manager todo todo-gtd todo-txt

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My recipe for customizing todo.txt for Getting Things Done

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README 

        
# todo.txt-gtd



[![PyPI version](https://badge.fury.io/py/todo.txt-gtd.svg)](https://badge.fury.io/py/todo.txt-gtd)



My recipe for customizing a [**todo.txt**](http://todotxt.org/) environment for

[**Getting Things Done**](https://gettingthingsdone.com/).



[Installing](#Installing)



# Scripts



## The Cleanup Script



Given the following text in the file _~/Dropbox/todo/todo.txt_:



    Get an oil change @errands +CarMaintenance

    Get a Haircut @errands +Grooming

    Check the car battery water level @home +CarMaintenance



... running the _tdtcleanup_ script will convert that file to this:



    # CarMaintenance

    #

    

    Get an oil change @errands +CarMaintenance

    Check the car battery water level @home +CarMaintenance

    

    # Grooming

    #

    

    Get a Haircut @errands +Grooming

    

    # _None

    #

    



Now _todo.txt_ can be treated as a comprehensive Projects file. Tasks are

organized by Project, and arbitrary text related to projects can be added as

comments.



A "#" comment block starting with a comment consisting of a single word is a

Project Header, defining the default project for following tasks. The final

*_None* project is special - it collects tasks that do not have a +Project

defined.



On subsequent runs, _tdtcleanup_ will do the following:



* Sort Project Sections alphabetically, by Project Name

* Add the '+' project tag to any tasks in a Project Section that don't already

  have one. A task is defined here as a line of text that includes an '@'

  context. This processing doesn't happen in the *_None* section.

* Move tasks to the proper Project Section, if they aren't already there. The

  Section is created, using a Project Header, if necessary.



## The Context Listing Script



The _tdtlist_ script lists the tasks in todo.txt, by context.



It has been moved to [todo.txt-base](https://github.com/davesteele/todo.txt-base),

which is a dependency of todo.txt-gtd.



## The Project script



The _project_ script supports working with a single project, or group of

projects. It opens an edit session with just the specified project section from

the todo.txt file, and replaces that section after the session is complete.



If all of the lines are deleted from the edit session, no changes are made to

the original todo.txt file. If just the header line is kept, all other lines

are deleted from the original.



Run _project_ with the "-l" option to get a current list of projects.



A bash completion script is available that responds to tab completion with an

appropriate project list.



## The Backup script



_tdtbackup_ is a utility script for making rotating backups of the todo.txt file.



It has been moved to [todo.txt-base](https://github.com/davesteele/todo.txt-base).



# Working with a GTD todo.txt



Always add an '@' context to tasks, to put them on the proper GTD list, and to

identify them to _tdtcleanup_.



Either add '+' project name to individual tasks, or physically move them to the

appropriate Project Section.



Add comments, as necessary, to fully document each Project.



For the Weekly Review:



* Run _tdtcleanup_

* Delete completed tasks

* Update the '@~' -> '@' context on multi-step tasks as necessary

* Add tasks and '+' project tags, as needed

* Run _tdtcleanup_ again



I've found that running "``for proj in `project -l`; do project -x $proj;

done``" is a mind-clearing way to accomplish this.



# Configuring Existing todo.txt Apps



Filter on '@' to limit your task lists to just tasks. I use a '\~' as a special

context flag (e.g. '@\~errands') for tasks that cannot be performed yet due to

an uncompleted previous step. If you pick up this convention, you may want to

filter out '@~' from your lists as well.



Avoid the 'archive' operation. This typically will remove duplicate lines in

_todo.txt_. This can wreak havoc on formatting, eliminating white space and

empty comment lines in the file.



# Specific Todo.txt Apps for GTD



I've used the classic [todo.txt CLI](https://todotxt.org/) with success. As

mentioned previously, avoid the archive operation.



I've come to prefer [ToPydo](https://pypi.org/project/topydo/), for its support

of [threshold dates and

recurrence](https://github.com/mpcjanssen/simpletask-android/blob/master/app/src/main/assets/extensions.en.md).

Note that, for versions prior to 0.14, ToPydo needs a [small

change](https://github.com/davesteele/topydo/commit/fafee24beb4718f375a921f3b4772c5fea37d7ac)

to avoid eliminating blank lines. Make sure to use the '-a' option to disable

auto-archive on task completion (or set the config "archive_filename" to no

content). My ~/.topydo:



    [add]

    auto_creation_date = 0

    

    [topydo]

    filename = ~/Dropbox/todo/todo.txt

    archive_filename = ~/Dropbox/todo/done.txt

    

    auto_delete_whitespace = 0



[SimpleTask](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nl.mpcjanssen.todotxtholo&hl=en_US)

works well on Android. Make a "Current Tasks" filter with the "List" tab

consisting of a checked "Invert Filter" box, plus check "-" and all contexts

you want to eliminate (e.g. "someday").



For SimpleTask, I also add this LUA filter, to eliminated commented-out tasks:



    function onFilter(task, fields, extensions)

	    c = string.sub(task, 1, 1);

	    if c == "#" then

		    return false;

	    end

    

	    return true;

    end



Run 'tdtlist -l' for a printable todo list, for offline use.



Of course, a primary way of interacting with the todo list is by editing the

todo.txt file directly.






# Installing



The [Deb package](https://davesteele.github.io/todo.txt-gtd/deb/index.html):



    sudo apt-get update

    sudo dpkg -i tdtgtd*.deb

    sudo apt-get -f install



[pip](https://pypi.org/project/todo.txt-gtd/) install:



    pip install todo.txt-gtd



# Usage



    $ tdtcleanup -h

    usage: tdtcleanup [-h] [-f FILE]

    

    Clean up the todo.txt file in a GTD fashion

    

    optional arguments:

      -h, --help            show this help message and exit

      -f FILE, --file FILE  the todo.txt file location (defaults to

                            ~/Dropbox/todo/todo.txt)



---



    $ project -h

    usage: project [-h] [-f FILE] [-l] [-x] [TERM [TERM ...]]

    

    Work with one or more GTD projects in todo.txt

    

    positional arguments:

      TERM                  search terms to filter the project(s) to use. Projects

                            matching ANY of the terms will be used.

    

    optional arguments:

      -h, --help            show this help message and exit

      -f FILE, --file FILE  the todo.txt file location (defaults to

                            ~/Dropbox/todo/todo.txt)

      -l, --list            just list the projects in the current todo.txt file

      -x, --exact           require an exact match of project to TERM

    

    Edit one or more isolated projects in a todo.txt file (todo.txt projects are

    denoted by a a leading "+"). If the entire project is deleted during the edit

    session, the original project is preserved in todo.txt. If just the Project

    Header line is kept, then the project is deleted in the original. The default

    text editor, set by 'update-alternatives', is used. This can be overridden by

    setting the 'EDITOR' environment variable.