Swift To-Do List Blog

Seriously, Stop Sabotaging Your 2023 Goals

Ondrej Zabojnik — Tue, 03 Jan 2023 16:18:00 +0000

First of all, if you don’t have any New Year resolutions yet, then STOP and make some. Why? Setting goals in January is better than setting them later, because you will get an edge: extra motivational boost of the New Year. Everything is fresh and the opportunities of the New Year are ripe to be harvested! Exploit this little life hack. Do it now. I will wait.

Ready? Got some?

If you now do have some New Year resolutions, then you are probably already failing. Or know that you will eventually probably fail. In the end, most people do. I know I fail. What’s worse, we are, in fact, sabotaging our resolutions and we don’t even know it.

Whether you appreciate my twisted sense of humor or not, you might ask: How can I be already failing and sabotaging my resolutions if I have only set them a minute ago? Well, good question.

Ladies and gentleman, prepare to be shocked, but…

It’s not about putting the effort into your resolutions!

Wait a minute! If it’s not about putting the effort into your resolutions, then what is it all about?

Well, here comes the $64,000 answer:

It is about making sure that you will keep putting the effort into your resolutions.

Big difference.

In my experience, I am either making damn sure that I will keep putting effort into my main goals, or I am inevitably failing – it’s just a matter of time, really. It works the other way around too though – done properly, the success can be inevitable.

Don’t let the fate of your resolutions be doomed before you equip them with the right weaponry necessary to succeed in the Age of Distraction. Oh look, a butterfly! It’s so pretty! It’s flying onto twitter! No, it’s Facebook. No wait, it’s reddit! (… 3 hours later…) What was I talking about? Oh, right. Distractions. They are getting worse every year. Are you getting better at making sure they don’t control your life? I will show you how I personally do this nearly Sisyphean task.

But first, I will have to disagree with Mr. Albert Einstein. Just for fun. Because that’s the way I roll. Actually, not for fun, I’m trying to make a point here. Seriously now – I believe it was this particular gentleman who said:

“Compound interest is the greatest invention in human history”.

Hear hear, but how about compound effort? Now we are talking!

Compound effort

There are two main ways of making sure that you finish something: Using someone else to make sure that you will keep putting effort into it (the Mad Klingon way), or making sure you will keep putting effort in yourself. I’m going to talk about the latter, as it is much more powerful and flexible, and can be combined with the first way anyway.

No working complex system that exists was built at once. All such systems gradually evolved. It is the same with non-trivial goals (or resolutions). The only way to ensure that you will fulfill your goals is to keep putting in effort over time and not stop doing that.

However, even if you use tricks to fool yourself into working, there is no guarantee you will keep doing that consistently. Year is a long time, and there are a lot of butterflies flying around, if you catch my drift.

How I don’t sabotage myself

I don’t know what the perfect solution is for you, but after many years of trial-and-error, I’ve finally discovered mine. Some credit is to Sebastian Marshall who has written about time tracking on his blog extensively. However, what I do is not really time tracking. I’ve crafted the following technique for my purposes.

This is what I do –

After I am done for the day, I print a checklist template for the next day and fill my 3 main objectives for the next day into it. Then I go happily to sleep. (Added bonus: As I fall asleep, my sub-consciousness is already working on these 3 objectives.) After I wake up, I check things off the checklist as the day progresses, either marking that I’ve done them or not. Loop this for 365 days in a row.

Timeless truth: What gets measured gets done.

What to put on the checklist depends on your goals. You should start simple. The essence of what I have there is roughly this:

Y / N Get up before 8 AM
Y / N Stretch after waking up
Y / N Drink water after stretching
Y / N Work on 1 main goal first thing on my PC, even before email or starting the browser or IM (5 min is enough)
Y / N Work on 3 main goals (specific tasks were chosen yesterday):
- _________________________________________________
- _________________________________________________
- _________________________________________________
Y / N Work on blog post or article (5 min is enough)
Y / N Prepare checklist for the next day and write the main goals into it
Y / N Send a report of what I’ve accomplished today to my friend
Y / N Go to bed before 11 PM

My real checklist is like 4 times longer, because I want to keep track of at least 15 different areas/projects. I have no intentions of working on all of them on any particular day, but just having them as suggestions on my checklist, which always lies beside my computer, is extremely powerful. I maintain the template in my own Windows software Swift To-Do List as I like pretty print-outs, but you can use almost about anything – even notepad will do.

At first, it might seem a lot of hassle and paper, but the effort is absurdly low for the enormous benefits. I also file the old checklists into a binder. I simply can’t miss a day, there is no excuse. If, God forbid, something like that were to happen, I would print 2 checklists and fill in the missing info.

If you have daily checklist, the only way you can fail is not to fill the checklist. Even if you don’t do anything else and just fill the checklist, the day is a success.

Why it must be printed? First, I don’t want to begin my morning routine on the computer. I would much rather stretch, drink some water, and review the checklist first. Second, I want to be able to end the day with the computer turned off. Plus it’s more fun and you can’t overlook the paper. That white paper sheet is just glowing there. (Unless, of course, you have a pile of trash on your desk. In that case I can’t help you; I guess you should just burn the desk down and go home.)

For me, it is actually easier to work on my main goals every single freaking day, instead of just 3 days in a week or now and then or some other complex or random pattern – that just never works for me. I like it simple and consistent.

Endless power

Just imagine the raw sheer power of my daily checklist. Whatever I put into it, I’m 100% sure I will think about it, every day, for a year. And I will actually usually do it too, on most days.

I’m sure you can relate to this: If you are working on an internet project or have a business, you are juggling 7253 balls (or so). Sometimes, you forget that some of the balls are even there and let them silently drop on the ground. And sometimes you notice some of these balls got dropped and you feel bad about not juggling them for so long. Solution? Daily checklist.

What I am describing here is the most powerful productivity technique I’ve ever encountered in my life. I already have a lot of experience both with other methods and this one. For example, 2 years ago, I’ve used this technique for my personal life (habits, exercise, diet, not going insane) and stuff like that. And I’ve actually really filled over 340 check list in a row, not missing a day, before stopping. The effects have sunk in and the habit changes are permanent. I’ve also learned quite a lot about myself. My life is better forever.

Believe me – it’s not that important to work on your goals every day. What is important is to make sure that you will keep working on your goals and that you won’t forget about them.

Press “F5” in your brain to refresh your goals

… and push them back up in the endless list of thoughts, where everything quickly falls down and drops out of view. And do it often.

I personally fanatically adhere to the checklist routine – as long as I am printing and filling my daily checklist, the year can’t be bad. It’s just not possible. This ensures I will keep putting effort into my main annual goals.

I don’t care how you do this, but do it! Tattoo it on your forehead, carve it out of dead pixels into your screen, rearrange the keys on your keyboard so they read like the name of your goal, if you must. But do it!

However, there are certainly other ways of making sure you won’t forget about your goals and eventually finish them – please leave a comment: What has worked for you? What do you think could work for you?

Seriously, Stop Sabotaging Your 2023 Goals is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Kick-start your productivity with new Swift To-Do List 11!

Andy Forda — Sat, 08 Jan 2022 10:18:40 +0000

Your 2022 can be much more productive and organized!

We are super excited to bring you Swift To-Do List 11!

To get this major upgrade, you need to have your license renewal active.

If you don’t own Swift To-Do List yet, you can buy Swift To-Do List today and get a free upgrade to version 11 as soon as it’s released.

Now let’s take a look at what you are getting in version 11:

1832 new icons plus icon search!

Enjoy 1832 new modern tree icons for your to-do lists, memos and spreadsheets!

You can now also quickly find icons by typing what you’re looking for!

You’ll have a total blast with these new carefully hand-picked icons.

New Contact Manager

You can use the brand new Contact Manager as a lightweight CRM.

You can store any information you might ever need for each of your contacts. There’s now 8 inbuilt fields (Name, E-Mail, Phone, Photo, Address, Company, Website, Color…).

But get this –

Swift To-Do List 11 now ALSO supports up to 10 custom fields in the Contact Manager!

You will SHOCK others with your organizing kung-fu and super-human memory!

Your professional and personal relationships will be better than ever!

Take the efficiency of dealing with individuals and companies to the next level.

Team Feature: Show reminders to assignees only

Reminders are now laser focused to the right people!

No more reminders shown to people NOT assigned to tasks!

With this new feature, only those assigned to a task will get reminders about them.

Of course, you can still create team-wide reminders: just leave a task unassigned.

Custom time tracker sound

You can now customize the sound which is played when your countdown timer finishes.

Enjoy!

A bunch of other improvements

Reminder emails now include the full task path and a list of task attachments.
You can now clone filters to create similar filters, or make filter templates.
When adding a new task, you can start time tracking or create a sticky note right then. Do more with less clicks!
Customize your workflow: You can now choose whether new tasks should appear at the top, or at the bottom of an existing list.

We’ve also included many small improvements and bug fixes to help you become even more productive with Swift To-Do List.

The new version 11 will be released on Jan 31st 2019. And of course, we have TONS more updates coming in 2019 to those with active licenses!

If you don’t own Swift To-Do List yet, you can buy Swift To-Do List today and get a free upgrade to version 11 as soon as it’s released.

Have your best year yet!

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Kick-start your productivity with new Swift To-Do List 11! is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Cloud Sync Performance Improvement

Andy Forda — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 10:18:40 +0000

I have good news for all our Cloud Sync and Backup users!

We’ve been working on a significant performance upgrade to the Swift To-Do List Cloud services, and today we have deployed a major update that should make Cloud Sync and Backup faster and more reliable.

Please let us know via our support form or email if you have any questions about the performance of your cloud database.

Our support staff is online every business day and ready to help you.

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Cloud Sync Performance Improvement is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

An important change in the upcoming Swift To-Do List release

Ondrej Zabojnik — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 05:57:08 +0000

We’ll be releasing a new Swift To-Do List version 10.310 soon.

The setup file for the new release will display a different publisher: Ondrej Forda instead of Jiri Novotny.

Ondrej Forda is the current CEO of Dextronet.com and signed a new certificate that proves the authenticity of our installation setup files.

We want to inform you that this is an intentional change and it has no effect on the installation or the program.

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An important change in the upcoming Swift To-Do List release is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Swift To-Do List 10 is safe to install

Ondrej Zabojnik — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 06:12:08 +0000

Updatestar recently confirmed that Swift To-Do List 10 is safe to install.

You can see the rating here:
https://swift-to-do-list.updatestar.com/

In our software, we’ve always been focusing on installation easiness and safety.

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Swift To-Do List 10 is safe to install is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Announcement: Sync Service Maintenance on Saturday 2/4

Ondrej Zabojnik — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 11:30:31 +0000

Please notice the Sync Service may be unavailable during a scheduled maintenance on Saturday 2/4.

We apologize for any inconvenience. We will resume normal operation as soon as possible. This maintenance should improve the stability of the Sync Service.

Thank you for your understanding!

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Announcement: Sync Service Maintenance on Saturday 2/4 is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Strike-through style for done tasks added

Jiri Novotny — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 18:49:41 +0000

You can now have your done tasks displayed with a strike-through style instead of just being gray.

This is one of the improvements in the last Swift To-Do List update, v10.1. You can download the new Swift To-Do List here.

As always, this update is free for all customers who have a Swift To-Do List subscription.

You can enable this new style using menu File – Options. Simply check the Strike-through Done Tasks checkbox in the Task-View section of Options.

Here’s how it looks -

Strike-through style for done tasks added is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Swift To-Do List 10 with scheduling calendar released!

Jiri Novotny — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 08:26:32 +0000

New major version 10 of Swift To-Do List has been just released!

It just might be the best and greatest to-do list software ever created for Windows.

The new version adds:

Scheduling calendar
33 new tree icons
Ability to assign tasks to multiple people
Ability to set times of day for tasks
Improved Time Estimate, Time Spent and Time Left fields
Improved Secure Cloud Sync
Ultimate features for everybody
… and many other improvements

You can download the new Swift To-Do List 10 here.

See more about What’s New in version 10 (includes more screenshots).

Customers who have already tried the new version love it!

That upgraded calendar feature is totally awesome dude. -Malcolm F, USA

This truly has become the perfect product! Thank you so much! -Robert G, USA

Download the new Swift To-Do List 10.

If you have already Swift To-Do List installed, all your data will be fully preserved.

If you already own Swift To-Do List, you either get the new version for free (in case you’ve purchased Swift To-Do List on November 24, 2015 or later and thus own a subscription), or with a discount. To claim your discount, simply download the new version and click the “Upgrade to Subscription” button on the top-right.

Enjoy the new Swift To-Do List and your new control of your time!

Swift To-Do List 10 with scheduling calendar released! is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Announcement: Sync Service Maintenance between Saturday 9/3 and Sunday 9/4

Ondrej Zabojnik — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 15:21:27 +0000

Please notice the Sync Service may be unavailable during a scheduled maintenance period between Saturday 9/3/2016 4 PM UTC (10 AM Central Time) and 9/4/2016 4 AM UTC (10 PM Central Time).

We apologize for any inconvenience. We will resume normal operation as soon as possible. This maintenance is very much needed since we’ll be upgrading the Sync Service for the upcoming Swift To-Do List 10 release.

Thank you for your understanding!

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Announcement: Sync Service Maintenance between Saturday 9/3 and Sunday 9/4 is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

This one simple habit will help you get everything done

Jiri Novotny — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 08:41:31 +0000

There is one habit that trumps all the other habits.

It’s the most powerful habit there is.

It’s the only habit you need.

So what is it?

It’s the habit of tracking your habits. The Meta-Habit™.

With this ultimate habit, you can easily start or stop any other habit. And it’s fun! Best of all, if you stick with it, your success is guaranteed.

It’s quite simple, really:

Create a spreadsheet for tracking all your habits daily
Put each habit into a separate column
Each row in the spreadsheet represents a calendar day, so put dates in the first column
Every day, fill the spreadsheet, indicating if you have done a habit or not

Now there’s more to it, but that’s it in the nutshell!

You can print the spreadsheet and use colored markers (green = performed the habit, red = not performed the habit), or use electronic spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets, or a spreadsheet in Swift To-Do List.)

Here’s how a quick-and-dirty version looks done on paper:

As long as you keep filling the Meta-Habit™ spreadsheet every day, you will eventually succeed and start doing the habits. Even if you actually don’t perform any of the habits, if you’ve filled the sheet, the day is a success. Because eventually, you will start doing the habits consistently. It’s just a matter of time.

In the Meta Productivity video training, I go into a great detail of the Meta-Habit™ method. The Meta-Habit™ is the second module of 5 total.

It’s one of my favorite techniques, and perhaps the most powerful one when it comes to changing your life and creating success.

Money, career, family, relationships, health, education, happiness… you can improve ANY area of your life with the right habits, and Meta-Habit™ is the best way make yourself actually do them!

Feeling inspired? Go get the Meta Productivity training, it’s completely risk free for you! You are 100% protected by our 90-Day Unconditional Money-Back Guarantee: If you won’t love it and it won’t change your life, you will get all your money back, no hassles, no questions asked!

This one simple habit will help you get everything done is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

What we are up to in 2016: Swift To-Do List 10 is coming

Ondrej Zabojnik — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 12:28:48 +0000

As you know, in November 2015, we’ve released Swift To-Do List 9.50 with new greatly improved Secure Sync. Since then we’ve continued working hard on the Secure Sync as well as new features that we plan to introduce this year.

We are happy that many of you find the Secure Sync, our mobile apps and the web-app for Swift To-Do List helpful. You might have noticed that when using the Secure Sync, you mostly don’t get bothered with task edit conflicts and such. That’s because we want to make it as easy to use as possible. That is however a complicated job and occasionally in some edge cases, given the complexity and the amount of data we are managing in the Secure Sync, problems may take a little longer to solve than we would like to. We always appreciate your patience and assistance in identifying the root of the issue.

Now the big news – Swift To-Do List 10 is coming this year! If you own the current Swift To-Do List 9 subscription license, it will be a free upgrade for you.

Our main goal for Swift To-Do List 10 is now a long-awaited full Scheduler/Calendar. We will also introduce some other new features and improvements in the Secure Sync infrastructure.

Apart from that we plan on introducing new Team features to make it easier and more productive to use Swift To-Do List in organizations.

Also, updates to our companion mobile apps – such as background sync – are one the way.

We are super glad for all the positive feedback about Swift To-Do List helping you with your every day life, especially the Secure Sync. That gives us inspiration to continue working on Swift To-Do List and make it even better for you. Thank you!

May Swift To-Do List help you make 2016 truly great for you!

What we are up to in 2016: Swift To-Do List 10 is coming is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Introducing Swift To-Do List subscription plans

Jiri Novotny — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 12:24:19 +0000

We’ve just released Swift To-Do List 9.50, which includes new, greatly improved Secure Sync and new team sharing options!

New mobile apps were released as well – it’s important that you update them if you use them.

We are also excited to announce Swift To-Do List subscription plans.

Swift To-Do List is now offered exclusively as a subscription.

Full Package For a Single Price

For a single annual fee, you will get:

Swift To-Do List for Windows, always the latest and highest version with all the features. After 1 year, you can keep the Windows version forever, even if you do not renew your subscription.
Swift To-Do List mobile apps for Android and iOS smartphones and tablets.
Swift To-Do List web app.
Use of Swift To-Do List on unlimited number of devices.
Updates for everything, including major upgrades.
Secure Sync of all the Swift To-Do List apps.
Team features (multi-user plans only).
Secure Cloud backup of your tasks, notes and spreadsheets. Even if your computer crashes or gets stolen, your data is safe.
Friendly tech support and customer service.

To use Swift To-Do List in a team, you need to have a multi-user plan (Mini, Small, Medium or Business).

For new customers, Swift To-Do List no longer comes in 3 editions (previously: Home, Professional, Ultimate). Every new subscriber automatically gets the equivalent of the Ultimate edition.

Also, Swift To-Do List no longer comes with 1-user-3-PC-Packs. With a valid subscription, you can now install and use Swift To-Do List on an unlimited number of devices.

Simple and Fair terms

Once you purchase a subscription, you are fully protected by our 90-Day Money Back Guarantee: During the first 90 days of your subscription, if you are not happy with Swift To-Do List for any reason, we will give you all your money back. After the first 90 days, no refunds are offered.

You can cancel the auto-renewal of your subscription at any point with just a few clicks directly from Swift To-Do List. Use the Manage Sync button to do so.

After the first year of your subscription, you can keep using the Windows version of Swift To-Do List forever, even if you do not renew your subscription.

To downgrade to a lower plan, simply let your current plan expire, then sign up for a lower one.

To upgrade to a higher plan, click Manage Sync button in the Sync tab of Swift To-Do List, the click the “Upgrade to a higher plan” link. You will get a discount based on your current plan.

How does this affect existing customers?

As a previous owner of a Swift To-Do List license, you have two options. You can either keep your current license under the original terms, or, you can subscribe to the new Swift To-Do List subscription.

If you keep your current license under the original terms:

You can keep using Swift To-Do List for Windows indefinitely.
You keep your current edition (Home, Professional or Ultimate).
If you own a single PC license, you can use Swift To-Do List on 1 computer. If you own 1-user-3-PC-Pack, you can use it on up to 3 computers. If you own a multi-license, you can use Swift To-Do List on corresponding number of computers.
You get v9.xx updates and support. You do not get major upgrades (10.xx, 11.xx, etc).
You get 30-day trial of Secure Sync & Secure Cloud Backup, mobile apps, web-app and team sharing.

If you purchase a Swift To-Do List subscription, you will get:

Automatic upgrade to Ultimate if you do not own it already.
The ability to use Swift To-Do List on unlimited number of computers and devices.
Swift To-Do List mobile and tablet apps for iOS and Android.
Swift To-Do List web-app.
Updates for all the apps, including major upgrades.
Secure Sync of everything.
Secure Cloud Backup.
The option to use Swift To-Do List in a team.
Discount on the first year of your subscription.

To claim your discount on the subscription, download the latest Swift To-Do List, then click the “Upgrade to Subscription” button on the top-right of Swift To-Do List window.

Swift To-Do List Accounts, Organizations and Subscription Plans

If you want to use use any of the online features (Secure Sync, mobile apps, team collaboration) you need to create your own Swift To-Do List Account. You can do so directly in Swift To-Do List for Windows when you sync your tasks for the first time.

We are now also introducing “Organizations” into Swift To-Do List -

To use Swift To-Do List in a team, you can now create an organization inside your Swift To-Do List Account. Each organization can have unlimited number of databases and up to 50 members. Organizations allow you to take advantage of multi-user plans, and they also allow you appoint admins and invite only specific people to databases owned by the organization.

Organizations come with 30-day trial. Then you need to purchase a valid multi-user plan for each Organization. We offer Mini plan for up to 5 users ($495/year), Small plan for up to 10 users ($995/year), Medium plan for up to 25 users ($2495/year) and a Business plan for up to 50 users ($4995/year).

Members of the organizations can also create their own personal private databases inside their Swift To-Do List Accounts.

If you want to use Swift To-Do List as a single user, then you also get a 30-day trial for the new online features. You then need to purchase a Personal plan. If you already own Swift To-Do List, you will automatically get a discount on your plan.

If you have been already using the beta sync feature, then we’ve created an organization inside your Swift To-Do List Account for you automatically. We’ve also moved all databases with more than 1 user into the organization for you, and made you an “administrator” and “owner” of the organization.

The Secure Sync background story

The Secure Sync features were in development for several years. All this time, we’ve been intensively working on them. And now, they are finally finished! It is the main reason we are introducing the new Swift To-Do List subscriptions.

During the public Beta period, the Secure Sync features were free. However, there are ongoing costs associated with running, maintaining and supporting the Secure Sync service, its infrastructure and the ecosystem of apps (Windows, Android, iOS, web), so subscription payments are necessary.

However, there’s a silver lining. Besides the new functionality, the switch to subscriptions comes with additional benefits to you – for example, we can now ship new features immediately, and do not have to bundle them into “major upgrade” packages like we did previously with Swift To-Do List 7, 8 and 9, or with the Ultimate edition.

Questions and Answers

Q: What if I am not interested in the online, mobile and team features?
A: First of all, all these features are optional. And even if you are not interested in any of the online features, you can still purchase Swift To-Do List for Windows! Just subscribe for 1 year, and even if you do not renew your subscription, you can keep using it forever (although without updates). Or, if you already own it, just keep using it.

Q: So, how can I use Swift To-Do List in a team?
A: If you were using Swift To-Do List in a team during the sync public beta, we’ve automatically created an organization for you. Feel free to rename it using the Manage Sync button in Swift To-Do List for Windows. If you are a new user, see above in the “Swift To-Do List Accounts, Organizations and Subscription Plans” section.

Q: How about license codes?
A: When you purchase or renew a subscription, you will also receive a license code for your Swift To-Do List for Windows. You can enter it using menu Help – Enter License Code. You should do so even if you’ve already purchased Swift To-Do List in the past or renewed your subscription. In the future, the license codes will be downloaded automatically for you.

If you have purchased a multi-user plan, you should email the license code to each member of your organization.

Q: How can I move a database from one organization to another one, or from my personal Swift To-Do List Account into an Organization?
A: Currently, you have two options. The first option is to email contact our support at support@dextronet.com – we can do this for you.

The second option is to un-sync the database using menu Sync – Un-Sync, then sync it again with the desired new “owner” organization. You then need to invite everyone into the database again. Everyone else then needs to create a new local empty database file using menu New – Empty Database, and sync it with the new cloud Organization’s database that you’ve invited them into.

Q: How can I upgrade to a higher plan?
A: Use menu Sync – Manage Sync. Then click the “Upgrade to higher plan” or “Upgrade to multi-user plan” link on the top-right of the “Manage Sync” window.

Q: How can I downgrade to a lower plan?
A: Simply let your plan expire, then purchase a lower plan. To cancel auto-renewal of your plan, use menu Sync – Manage Sync, then click “Cancel auto-renewal”.

Q: When I am a member or an admin of an organization, can I also have my own personal databases?
A: Yes. When you are a member of an organization, you can have your personal databases directly inside your Swift To-Do List Account that are completely separate from the organization. When syncing a database, make sure that you select “You” as the owner in the Secure Sync Wizard.

This also means that when you have a multi-user plan, or are a member in an organization, you do not need a Personal plan if you want to use Swift To-Do List for your personal tasks as well.

Q: How do I know when to renew the subscription?
A: If you have auto-renewal enabled, you don’t have to worry about it at all – it will auto-renew for you automatically, unless you cancel the auto-renewal. If you do not have auto-renewal enabled, then you can click the Manage Sync button in the Sync tab to see how many days are left in your subscription. During the last 14 days, Swift To-Do List for Windows will also display the days left on the top-right part of its window.

Q: What’s the pricing?
A: Please see our Secure Software Store.

Introducing Swift To-Do List subscription plans is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Double your productivity, stop procrastinating and master your habits with new video training

Jiri Novotny — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 09:37:47 +0000

A completely new video version of the premium Meta Productivity personal productivity training by Jiri Novotny has been just released!

If you purchase Meta Productivity now, you will get the video version completely FREE. You will also get an audio-book and e-book version – all for a single price.

Meta Productivity is a revolutionary training that will help you to:

Dramatically increase your productivity
Stop procrastinating
Master your habits

You will get more done in less time, have more energy, and achieve success faster.

Watching video is much easier and more fun than reading a book. Video makes it easier for you to focus on the training. Permanently increasing your productivity has never been easier.

Peter Drucker said: “For the first time in human history, we will have to take responsibility for managing ourselves”. That’s why it’s critical to learn how to be productive.

Click here to learn more about Meta Productivity, or to purchase it!

Meta Productivity comes with 90-day Unconditional Money Back Guarantee – it will change your life, or you will promptly get your money back, no questions asked.

Double your productivity, stop procrastinating and master your habits with new video training is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

How to Sleep Better and Increase Your Productivity

Jiri Novotny — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 07:14:29 +0000

A single night of bad sleep can wreak havoc on your productivity for days to come. Sleep is critical for high productivity and well-being.

So, is there something you can do to sleep better at night? Yes, there is! I have 16 tips for you -

Hydrate

It’s better to get up during the night and go to the toilet, than to be woken up by a thirst.

Drink plenty of water during the day, and drink some water before you go to bed. If you have to get up to pee during the night, so be it – it’s better than waking up dehydrated like a mummy.

Tip: You are most dehydrated right when you wake up. Drink 2 glasses of water right after you wake up to get yourself going.

Reduce CO₂ in your bedroom

Just 30 minutes of 2 people breathing in a mid-size room can increase CO₂ in the room dramatically. High CO₂ in the air is bad, because it can increase your heart rate. This leads to poor sleep.

Do you know why people weigh the least in the morning? It’s because we breathe out CO₂ during the night. The carbon molecule in the CO₂ we breathe out makes most of the weight we lose during the night – the rest is mostly sweat.

To sleep better, ventilate – a lot. Fresh air is important.

Tip: Some smart devices (body scales, thermostats, etc) can measure and track CO₂ in the room.

Empty stomach – but not too empty

Digestion takes a lot of energy. For most people, sleeping on a full stomach makes sleep worse.

Tip: Sleeping on a completely empty stomach can also decrease sleep quality for some people. If you are hungry, try eating a banana before bed.

Darkness works

Make your bedroom as dark as possible. Remove any lights, including small LED lights. Blinking lights are the worst. Use the blinds.

The closer the bed time is, the less light you should expose yourself to. This will increase the sleep hormone melatonin production.

Tip: Try wearing an eyemask during the night for a week. If it helps, keep using it!

Tip: Dim all your displays in the evening.

Tip: “F.lux” for PC/Mac can automatically adjust the color temperature of your screen during the day.

Silence works

Remove as much noise sources from your bedroom as possible.

This can be a challenge because you need fresh air too. Open windows brings noise, but they also bring fresh air.

Tip: Try wearing ear plugs.

Love your bed

You spend one third of your life in your bed.

You should get a bed that you TOTALLY love. You should love the mattress, the pillows, the bed sheets, your pajamas. If you don’t, get better ones!

Your bed and everything on it should feel great and be extremely comfortable.

Tip: Try buckwheat pillow. It helps you sweat less during the night and doesn’t deform.

Vigorous exercise, but not right before the bed

If you exercise vigorously during the day, you will have easier time falling asleep.

For most people, exercising right before bed is a bad idea. But stretching might help.

Are you sensitive to caffeine?

Many people are sensitive to caffeine. I sure am. I discovered that when I don’t drink any, I will sleep much better.

In fact, most of my terrible nights were caused by caffeine.

Try this – don’t consume any caffeine for a week or two, and see if you sleep better.

Alcohol makes your sleep lower quality

Consuming alcohol is a trap. It might seem that you sleep just fine after consuming it, but the sleep will not be as restorative.

Alcohol also dehydrates.

Remove the clock

Does the bedroom clock just make you worry that you won’t get enough sleep? Put it away!

If you use an alarm clock, you can usually put it in the adjoining room.

Lower the temperature during the night

Our bodies expect the temperature to be lower during the night. If you can lower the temperature by a few degrees during the night, you will probably sleep better.

Track your sleep

If you are serious about improving your sleep, start logging how many hours of sleep you get each night. Or use a smart wearable to track it for you automatically.

Meditation helps

Meditating just 5 minutes a day has proven positive psychological effects, and can help with sleep as well. Having a better control of your mind makes falling asleep easier.

How to meditate? Just sit with a straight spine for 5 minutes, and focus on your breathing. Whenever your mind wanders, re-focus on the breathing. That’s it.

Consider supplements for better sleep

Supplementing with melatonin can be be useful especially for older people, because melatonin production diminishes as we age. For younger people, it can be useful when travelling or switching time zones.

There are also many herbal teas that promote sleep.

Tip: Lavender has a relaxing effect. You can get a small lavender herbal pillow.

Take a nap

When you don’t get a good night’s rest, take a nap during the day. It actually helps!

Power-naps of about 20 minutes work great for most people.

Get organized

When everything important is written down, you don’t have to worry about remembering it. When you are better organized, you will sleep better.

Tip: When thoughts are racing in your mind while you are lying in bed, write them down.

I’ve written more about this in the post “Why You Can’t Sleep“.

This post has been inspired by Tomas Baranek’s research into sleep [Czech Source].

How to Sleep Better and Increase Your Productivity is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Meta Productivity training now includes an audiobook!

Jiri Novotny — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 12:27:29 +0000

The personal productivity training by Jiri Novotny – Meta Productivity – now also includes an unabridged audiobook version.

If you are a busy professional, the audiobook is a big boon. You can listen to it while commuting, exercising, doing chores or running errands. It allows you to easily learn the material or to review it, so you can become dramatically more productive, eliminate procrastination, master your habits, and more.

Meta Productivity is a very important training, because as Peter Drucker said: “For the first time in human history, we will have to take responsibility for managing ourselves”.

Click here to learn more!

Meta Productivity training now includes an audiobook! is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Meta Productivity released! “Dramatically Increase Your Productivity”

Jiri Novotny — Fri, 13 Mar 2015 11:57:33 +0000

The best and most important e-book training I’ve ever written has been just released!

This book will change the way you look at productivity forever.

You will dramatically increase your productivity, master your habits and kill your procrastination.

I’ve worked on this book for over 3 years. I’ve applied everything I’ve learned over the past 10 years about productivity, and condensed it all into proven, simple & powerful systems that anyone can start using immediately, with the least effort possible.

The book turned out really well, and I’m super excited about it. It can truly enrich and inspire you.

I’ve organized this training into 5 short e-books (modules) – each has about 20-40 pages.

In module #1, “The Secrets of New Productivity“, I list 7 common productivity problems (that no one talks about) and how you can overcome them.

These include lack of willpower and self-discipline, perfectionism, the fact that your to-do list is infinite, decision paralysis (being overwhelmed), to-do list guilt, and more.

You will also learn why “meta productivity” beats “productivity”: When you try to be productive, you burn your willpower on a particular task. So it’s not really sustainable. But when you are meta productive, you use your willpower and mental energy to make yourself more productive permanently.

In module #2, “The Meta-Habit™”, I share the most powerful method for taking control of your life and time I know of.

Habits are actions with huge ROI (return on investment). Just a single habit that helps you to be more productive, healthy, energetic or joyful can pay you huge dividends for the rest of your life.
And what’s the best way to take control of all your habits? With a habit!

The Meta-Habit™ is a method of managing habits. It’s super easy – it takes just about 2 minutes per day, and yet, it will help you to successfully start new habits or break existing negative ones.

In module #3, “The Productiveness Framework™”, I share the ultimate method for dramatically increasing your productivity.

The Productiveness Framework™ is a set of 5 principles that you can organize your day around. One of them is a simple yet brutally effective method for getting a lot of real, important work done every day.

You can expect to increase your productivity by 50-100% just by implementing the tools from this module alone.

Then there’s module #4, “33 Golden Nuggets of Productivity Wisdom”.

The idea behind this module is to make you a wise productivity genius.

This module will increase your awareness of productivity, give you new powerful perspectives and deep insights that will, in the long run, result in more success in your work and life.

This module is super-fun to read. It’s a collection of the best and most valuable information on productivity I know of.

Finally, there’s the bonus module #5, “7 Productivity Power Tools”.

In this final module, you will get additional proven tools that you can use to increase your productivity even more.

Click here to learn more about Meta Productivity. Or click here to purchase it ($99.95)..

Meta Productivity is delivered to you instantly, in 3 formats (PDF, ePub and Kindle).

Meta Productivity comes with Unconditional 90-day Money Back Guarantee: If you won’t be amazingly happy with it and the positive impact it has on your productivity and life, we will give you a full refund.

Meta Productivity released! “Dramatically Increase Your Productivity” is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

How to “Cure” Procrastination [video]

Jiri Novotny — Fri, 16 Jan 2015 08:37:00 +0000

The key to ending procrastination isn’t to “just do it” – or to get yourself “psyched up”.

In fact, the answer is something that most people would never even guess.

If you’d like to cure your procrastination, and get more of the important things DONE in your life, then watch this new video from Eben Pagan (just opt-in to watch it free):

How To Cure Procrastination

Inside, you’ll learn:

How to cure and overcome procrastination for the LONG-TERM
How to create a habit of taking action, so you have less and less procrastination in your life automatically
The place to invest your attention and energy to get the HIGHEST return (in both your personal and business lives)
Why it’s critical to understand how willpower works, and how to use it for maximum results and productivity
How to design and create habits that last, and that keep “paying you back” for the long-term

There’s also a couple of downloads on the page with the video, including an exercise and a list of tips for curing procrastination and building lasting habits, so make sure to get those while you’re there.

Here’s the link again, just opt-in free to watch the video and get the PDF downloads – and to learn how to cure your procrastination:

How To Cure Procrastination

If you ever procrastinate, you need to see this.

By the way, the Eben’s Wake Up Productive training will open on Monday, and it will be available only for a few days until it closes, so watch out for the announcement on our Facebook page!

I am currently preparing a bonus package for you if you decide to enroll in the Eben’s Wake Up Productive training once it opens next week.

One of the bonuses I would like you to get is an exclusive preview copy of my new “Meta Productivity” training that I’ve been working on for the past 2 years – it’s 5 short e-books jam-packed with golden nuggets of productivity wisdom.

Once you combine it with the Wake Up Productive training, you will have your productivity, habits and procrastination solved for life.

I will tell you more and give you all the details soon. For now, enjoy the new video from Eben.

How to “Cure” Procrastination is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

The 1 activity that makes you 10x as productive [video]

Jiri Novotny — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 14:12:36 +0000

Would you believe that there are activities in your life and business that can make you two times… or five times… or even TEN times as productive?

In this new video, Eben Pagan explains why it’s so important to identify and do those activities (just go here and opt-in to see it free):

Video: The 10x Productivity Factor

In this video, you’ll learn:

The business activities you can do that generate TEN TIMES the return in growth, profit and income
How to eliminate distractions and interruptions, so you can focus on only those activities that grow business and make you the most money
How to organize your time into “60 60 30” blocks, to maximize what you accomplish each day
The one activity you must do that has nothing to do with business – but that multiplies the productivity of the work you do IN business

You can watch the video and get the 2 free PDFs downloads right here, by just opt-ing in on this page:

Video: The 10x Productivity Factor

Go watch this free video, and start increasing your productivity today.

(Your email will be 100% safe with Eben and never shared. Eben has been my mentor for many years now. He’s one of the best teachers and smartest people I know.)

The 1 activity that makes you 10x as productive is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

The Key To Higher Productivity [video]

Jiri Novotny — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 09:14:15 +0000

Here’s a new fantastic video from Eben Pagan that explains the 1 most important key to increasing your productivity, success and profit in your business and personal life (just opt-in to watch it free):

Free Video: The Key To Higher Productivity

Make sure to get the PDF download, and the 1-page summary sheet download as well, and do the exercise to identify the ultra high-value “money making activities” in your life and business.

In the video, Eben explains how he transformed and dramatically increased his productivity with one simple mindset and action change.

He also shares:

How to use the little bit of willpower that you get each day to leverage UP your productivity for the long-term
How to identify the activities in your business and work that make you the most money – so you can do more of them every day (and make more profit
The one consideration that richest and most successful investor of all time uses to decide where to invest his attention, time and money
The exercise that he uses to discover where he is wasting time – so he can re-allocate it to doing things that create success, growth and profit
And much, much more…

This video is about 18 minutes long, and will change the way you think about time management and productivity.

The best part is that you can watch it for free, by just opting-in here:

Free Video: The Key To Higher Productivity

Watch it now (it will be up only for a limited time), and don’t forget to download the PDF exercise and summary tip sheet!

The Key To Higher Productivity is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Swift To-Do List app for iPhone and Android released!

Jiri Novotny — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 18:51:08 +0000

The official Swift To-Do List mobile app for iPhone and Android has been released!

You can get the app for iOS at Apple App Store or for Android from Google Play.

Don’t confuse the new mobile app with the old one called “Swift To-Do List Inbox”. The old inbox app just allows you to add tasks when on the go – but the new one is full-featured. You can work with all your to-do lists and memos, add and edit subtasks, setup reminders, edit notes (including formatting), and more.

The mobile app is fully synchronized with the Windows desktop version of Swift To-Do List 9.

To use the new mobile app, you will need Swift To-Do List 9. If you don’t have it, download it from our website.

After installing and starting Swift To-Do List 9 for Windows (download), use menu File – Advanced – Enable Beta Features. This will display the Sync tab. Click the Sync button inside the Sync tab to create your Secure Cloud Sync account. With this account, you can log-in into the mobile app.

The mobile app is completely free for Swift To-Do List 9 users.

Please tell us what you like or don’t like about the new mobile app! This is just the first version, and we plan to keep improving it.

We are working on tablet (iPad) versions right now, and would like to release them in about 3-6 weeks.

Swift To-Do List app for iPhone and Android released! is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Beta testers wanted for attachments sync

Jiri Novotny — Tue, 16 Dec 2014 10:51:42 +0000

We are making significant progress on the Secure Cloud Sync feature in Swift To-Do List. We are almost ready to release another big update: Task attachments sync.

To make things smooth before releasing this to everyone, we are looking for beta testers to help us test the new attachments sync (it is a part of the Swift To-Do List Secure Cloud Sync feature).

If you are interested, simply post in the comments below and we will get in touch. You can also contact us using our contact form, or email us directly at support@dextronet.com.

Beta testers wanted for attachments sync is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

“Touch it once” – Why being picky destroys your productivity

Jiri Novotny — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 17:40:30 +0000

Every time you re-evaluate a task, you are wasting time. This often happens with emails, bills, or just tasks in a to-do list in general.

Repeatedly coming back to a task and thinking: “OK, I will do this later” is very unproductive.

Not only you are wasting time, you are also literally training your brain to habitually procrastinate.

So, instead of repeatedly reading your to-do list and “randomly” picking a task to do next, apply a more systematic approach, such as this one -

Keep your to-do list well prioritized, and then just work on the first task until it’s done. Then mark the task as done and work on the current first unfinished task, and so on.

Huge benefit of this approach is that it completely removes decision paralysis, and it makes it much easier to get started on complex or unpleasant task.

When you decide that you will always do the first thing on your to-do list first, your brain has a much easier decision to make: To work on that task, or not work at all. That’s a simple decision, right?

On the other hand, when all tasks on your to-do lists are fair game, your brain has dozens or hundreds of options to choose from — which makes it hard to get going. You will then burn a lot of energy on inner conflict due to “decision paralysis”.

Also, keep these two pitfalls in mind –

Sometimes, it’s not possible to finish a task because you are waiting on someone or something – in that case, just proceed to the next task.

Also, re-prioritize your to-do list just once a day – at the start or the end of your workday. Remember, you want to “touch each task once”– and not constantly re-read and re-prioritize your to-do list.

And one final tip – sometimes, the best thing to do with a task is to just delete it. It’s like when you have leftovers in your fridge that you just know you won’t eat – but you delay throwing them out. That’s exactly what you DON’T want to be doing with your tasks.

Just “touch it once”!

“Touch it once” – Why being picky destroys your productivity is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Mind Collected – new software launched!

Jiri Novotny — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 09:53:06 +0000

Mind Collected is completely new and original software. It was just released. You can download free 30-day trial. It was designed by me, Jiri Novotny, Dextronet.com co-founder.

By using Mind Collected, you can visually collect and manage all kinds of information, but also actually improve how your brain and memory works.

You can exploit Mind Collected in 3 major ways, as a:

Personal visual knowledge base (your personal visual database that allows you to “collect” anything in the form of visual objects with rich notes, organized by tags.)
Personal research and learning tool (whenever you want to master a subject or learn something new, you can capture key information related to the topic you are learning into Mind Collected in the form of inter-connected visual objects. This will help you learn much faster and better. You will also have a far better alternative to classic plain-text notes for later review – instead, you will have a gallery of visual items, each with its own notes and connections to other items. Reviewing what you’ve learned visually is much faster and more pleasant than reading the old-fashioned text-only notes.)
Brain enhancement tool (by using Mind Collected, you can improve your brain in 3 areas: memory, learning, creativity and productivity. You can actually physically improve the health and functioning of your brain. For example, by capturing and connecting information in Mind Collected, you will yourself create new mental associations. As a result, you will grow new synapses and neurons in your brain – we now know this is possible due to neuroplasticity.)

Additionally, you can use it as:

Collector’s tool – Have you ever collected anything? Stamps, stickers, coins, matchboxes, car toys, dolls, or anything else? If you did, you probably had fun. Growing your collection is a great feeling that non-collectors won’t understand. Well, but let me ask you: What if you could also collect fascinating information? What if you could collect memories and experiences? What if you could collect things that are actually important, and it did not matter if they exist physically or just in your mind? All that in a visual, fun way…? Is that something you would be interested in? Mind Collected allows you to collect anything. You can have unlimited number of visual collections of ANYTHING in a single software!
Personal development tool – Did you know that you can change your behavior and thinking by “priming” yourself with important ideas and habits presented in visual form? For example, if you start visually cataloging individual healthy foods using Mind Collected, you will be automatically more likely to buy and eat them in the future. This is called “priming” in psychology. You can do the same with healthy positive habits, thoughts, etc. (Also, have you ever created a “vision board”? Well, every tag in Mind Collected is also automatically a vision board!)

Quick look at the technical side

Mind Collected is personal visual database software for Windows.

Every item in your database has a picture associated with it. (These pictures can be automatically searched and downloaded from the Internet, or you can provide them yourself.)

Items in the database are organized using tags. Every item can have any number of tags. (Mind Collected automatically intelligently organizes your tags for easy navigation, so even hundreds of tags are not a problem.)

Every item also has its own rich notes. This allows you to capture related information and thoughts to each of the items in your database.

Items can be connected to any number of other items. This allows you to cross-link your items, making it easier to navigate in your database, but also create new mental associations.

(You can learn more about the technical side in the online help.)

How I started my “personal renaissance”

Several years ago, something critically important has dawned on me -

It is really dumb that we go through life having various experiences, insights, ideas, learning interesting things and facts — and constantly LOSING parts of that. Why do we forget so much? Why do we lose parts of our lives? Why do we lose parts of our minds? Isn’t that a shame?

Well, of course, our brain is naturally constantly cleaning our memories; otherwise we would go mad from all the details we would remember. BUT, we don’t have any say in what is our brain going to remember and what will get wiped out from our memory forever. And so it happens that our brain is forgetting interesting and useful things, ALL-THE-TIME. This seems both ridiculous and terribly limiting to me.

Since I am a professional software designer, I started working on a software solution.

When I started experimenting with the first software prototypes, I was surprised by the results I’ve personally started getting almost immediately as I began using them – I suddenly remembered and understood things much better. Reliable temporary internet connections in detroit can also make testing new software setups smoother and more efficient. For some reason, I also had a lot of fun when using the software.

This has intrigued me, and so I started researching memory, neurosciences and neuroplasticity. I’ve applied what I’ve learned in the design of Mind Collected.

(By the way, the recent progress we’ve made in neuro-sciences is extraordinary, and I highly recommend that you educate yourself a bit about neuroplasticity. Your brain can grow new neurons and synapses, and it can learn new complex subjects and skills even in advanced age.)

I’m a big believer in “eating your own dog food”. I use Mind Collected every day. My database has already over 1,000 entries. And I absolutely love it.

Mind Collected has helped me to start my own “personal renaissance“. I feel that after many years, I’ve finally experienced a significant shift in my personal growth, and that I operate on a higher level now.

Today, when I read a book, I know that I won’t forget 50% of it a week later, 90% of it a month later, and 99% of it two years later. No — today, when I read a book and learn something, I know that I will remember everything I want to remember, as long as I want to, with very little effort. In fact, I will have fun collecting the information from the book in Mind Collected, in the form of visual objects, that I will enjoy connecting to other objects that I already have there. And I will also have fun when reviewing this information, because it will be visually engaging and much faster than reviewing old fashioned plain-text notes.

Now I have a choice in what I’m going to remember and what I am going to forget. Finally!

You personally can now also benefit from Mind Collected. It’s quite easy and simple, really.

Take advantage of neuroscience

You can now take advantage of the latest discoveries in neuro-sciences by using Mind Collected. Just the simple act of adding items into Mind Collected will help you remember them better, and make them more psycho-active in your brain.

We all have quite advanced visual cortex in our brain, but it is unfortunately usually severely underutilized. We are far more efficient working with visual information rather than with text-only information. Mind Collected allows you to represent every information visually by assigning it a picture, and thus allows you to use the potential of your own brain more fully.

A picture truly is worth 1000 words.

Using Mind Collected is fun, and the more you use it, the better it feels and the more powerful it is – you will start generating your own “aha!” moments. You will get satisfaction from growing your visual collection, which closely represents your own mind. By connecting items in your visual database, you will also create new mental associations. This will start stimulating your physical brain to grow new neurons and synapses.

As your Mind Collected collection grows and improves, so does your memory and brain functioning. Everything related to the items you’ve added into your Mind Collected will be easier to memorize, understand and recall for you. Plus, you will of course have a beautiful gallery of things that you find important and interesting!

Download Mind Collected

You can download free 30-day trial for Windows right now. The installation takes just 1 click. Currently, you can purchase Mind Collected with 50% discount during the launch promotion.

Mind Collected includes a Quick Start Guide that will get you started in no time, as well as more detailed Online Help to help you fully master the details.

The current version 1.0 is just the beginning, and I would love to hear what you think. I have many grand visions planned for the future of Mind Collected, but you have the main say in shaping it. So don’t be shy and let me know how to make it as valuable, useful and beneficial for you as possible!

In case you are wondering, I still manage my tasks in Swift To-Do List, where it excels. I use Mind Collected as a learning, knowledge-management and brain/memory enhancement tool.

Mind Collected is an alternative to mind maps (comparison table).

Mind Collected – new software launched! is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Is being organized a basic human need?

Jiri Novotny — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 10:52:09 +0000

When exercising today, a fascinating question occurred to me: Why do we humans have the need to organize? And is it a basic need?

The fact is, humans have been organizing and cataloging the world for a long, long time.

Google’s goal is to catalog the whole Internet.

In 18th century, Denis Diderot wanted to collect all of the world’s knowledge in his Encyclopédia .

Philosophers have been creating systems using which they wanted to comprehend the whole world.

And even before that, agrarian societies have been organizing the land into fields and pastures.

But why is that?

Why do we value order over chaos? Why is it SO OBVIOUS to us that dividing a land into several fields is far better than just randomly growing crops?

Well, let’s see. This is the Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs – I’m sure you’ve already seen it:

Here’s the thing -

Being organized provides you with SAFETY.

Living a disorganized life is very stressful, as you never know if there is any danger waiting for you (unpaid bills, disappointed friends, forgotten appointments, or even loss of income or home).

Security, stability, freedom from fear – that all sounds like something that being organized can give you.

But being organized also gives you SELF-ESTEEM.

Among other things, having self-esteem means that you just know you can deal with whatever life throws at you.

When you are organized, you are more in control. You are the master of your life. Achievement is easier for you. You know you can deal with things, since you know what there is to be dealt with in the first place.

And once you fulfill your self-esteem needs, SELF-ACTUALIZATION becomes an important need for you as well. This is where your express your creativity and talents. This is where you find purpose and fulfillment.

The Maslow’s pyramid is hierarchical.

When you don’t have SAFETY, it means that one of your most basic indeed is not being met. This lack will constantly occupy your attention. In other words, when you are disorganized, you just don’t feel completely stable, secure and free from fear.

It’s similar with your SELF-ESTEEM needs. When disorganized, it’s just difficult to feel like a master of your life and attain achievement, respect and recognition.

When these important needs are not met, your highest needs of SELF-ACTUALIZATION (creativity, fulfillment, purpose) can’t be fully expressed and met either, since you are preoccupied with your unmet lower needs.

I think the conclusion is clear -

Being organized is a basic human need. When it’s not met, you simply can’t live to your full potential – and you might not even want to, as you will be preoccupied with mere “survival” in the complex modern world.

Is being organized a basic human need? is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Swift To-Do List 9 released!

Jiri Novotny — Sun, 09 Feb 2014 10:35:51 +0000

New Swift To-Do List 9 has been officially released!

Download the new Swift To-Do List and check it out for yourself.

This is a very exciting release, as it takes Swift To-Do List to a completely new level.

Check out what’s new in the new version 9 and see the screenshots.

Among other things, the new version allows you to get organized with spreadsheets and sticky notes.

What happens when you can organize all your tasks, notes, reminders, AND spreadsheets AND sticky notes in a single organizer software?

Well, you can manage and track all your stuff in a single place! This is extremely liberating and gets you in total control of your work and life.

The new version has been received extremely well – most people who’ve used it absolutely love it.

There are more things to come, too!

What’s coming next?

1. Finished Sync feature. We are working hard on finishing the sync feature (currently in Beta), which allows you to collaborate with other people and keep Swift To-Do List synchronized on multiple computers using a secure cloud. Swift To-Do List 9 includes a completely new sync feature re-written from scratch, and we are doing our maximum to finish it.

2. Companion mobile apps for iOS and Android, planned to be released in late February 2014. At first, these will be simple (mostly an inbox), but eventually they should allow you to do important operations with your tasks and notes.

3. Companion web-app, planned to be released in February 2014. The new web-app will more feature-rich, and resemble the Windows version. You will be able to use it from any computer, even when you are on the go. It will be of course fully synchronized with the Windows and mobile versions.

I think that year 2014 will be the biggest year for Swift To-Do List yet.

Swift To-Do List 9 released! is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Beta testers for Swift To-Do List 9 wanted

Jiri Novotny — Sun, 12 Jan 2014 08:44:46 +0000

We are preparing the new Swift To-Do List 9 for release later in January. It’s a super exciting release!

And we need a few Swift To-Do List users that would like to help us test the new version.

To participate, it’s not required that you are a power-user or have technical background. However, you shouldn’t mind small glitches and bugs that you might discover, and be willing to report them to us as soon as possible, so we can fix them before shipping the final version.

If you are interested, just submit the contact form and leave your email address and name. You can also contact us directly at support@dextronet.com.

Beta testers for Swift To-Do List 9 wanted is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

3 easy techniques to instantly stop procrastinating

Jiri Novotny — Fri, 13 Dec 2013 19:05:01 +0000

The following 3 techniques are extremely powerful and work instantly. I’ve been developing and refining them over the years – they are based on solid proven psychological and productivity principles.

In order to beat procrastination, first of all, pick just one important task you are procrastinating on. Then use the following 3 techniques, and I personally guarantee you that you will stop procrastinating and start working on the task immediately.

1. Explore and map the task

Procrastination is often related to fear. We are often afraid of unknown work. After all, it might be too much work, or we might be unable to do it. The easiest way to reduce this fear is to explore, map and research the task.

So, how do you explore a task? Well -

Just break the task down into subtasks! This is the best way to “explore” it, unpack it and see what’s really going on.

If you use Swift To-Do List, to break a task down into subtasks, simply select it, then start adding subtasks with all the steps necessary for completing the task.

Add even all the small steps. Try to order the subtasks roughly in the sequence they need to be done.

While you are adding the subtasks, pay extra attention to all the “research” actions – steps that require you to gather extra information and data in order to move forward. These “research” actions are what you want to do first, because doing them will help you to unpack the original task even further.

Once you break the task into subtasks AND start gathering all the necessary information, materials and data, and possibly discuss it with your co-workers or boss, the fear of unknown will diminish, and as a result, you will be able to start doing the task right away without procrastinating anymore.

2. Find the smallest possible next step – then do it!

When we procrastinate, we often feel that we are simply unable to do the task. However, when you identify a tiny easy action to get started on the task, you will be absolutely confident that you can do it.

For example, you might be procrastinating on this task: “Write the 70-page Q3 report”

So, you quickly think about what you actually need to do to get started on it, and determine this smallest possible next step: “Open MS Word and write a rough half-page outline of the Q3 report”

Can you open MS Word and write a rough half-page outline? Of course you can! You know you can absolutely do it. You are confident. So there is no reason to procrastinate anymore. You can just do it. So you do it.

And once you do it, you can simply repeat this process – what is the next small easy step?

3. Schedule fun and limit the work

This technique might seem counter-intuitive at first, but it’s extremely effective. It uses powerful reverse-psychology.

Get this -

Another big reason for procrastination is the fear you will miss out on all the fun and pleasant things in life.

The solution is ridiculously simple: Guarantee the fun first. Then limit the time you have available for work.

Simply schedule some fun! Plan and schedule a night out. Or, schedule any of your favorite relaxation, entertainment, sport or fun activity that you just love.

Ideally, schedule this pleasant activity right after work.

Next, limit the time you have available for your work. Give yourself a hard time limit that forces you to stop working at a specific time of the day. Absolutely no overtimes allowed. This will motivate you to stop procrastinating and get to work, right now.

Tip: When scheduling the fun activity, ideally pick an activity right after work that involves other people. You will know that you HAVE to be there because of the other people, so you will know that there is a very real time limit on your work today. This will strongly motivate you.

As an extra bonus, the fun activity will help you recharge your batteries and sharpen your saw, so the next time you get to work, you are strong. Obviously, this also makes you immune to burnout.

How procrastination works

If you want to learn more about how and why you procrastinate, you will love this.

Here’s my summary of The Now Habit, which is probably the best book on procrastination ever written.

This summary will give you the most important insights from the book in just a few pages.

In the summary, you will also learn additional causes of procrastination (perfectionism, fear of judgment, fear of success, and more).

3 easy techniques to instantly stop procrastinating is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

30-second check: Do you get the maximum from Swift To-Do List?

Jiri Novotny — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 13:33:41 +0000

Here is a quick self-check you can do. Just answer these 3 questions:

Do you have any tasks that are not captured in Swift To-Do List?
Do you have to remember any time-sensitive information that you’ve not captured in Swift To-Do List (or other appropriate tool)?
Do you have to remember any work-related information that you’ve not captured in Swift To-Do List (or other appropriate tool)?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, I have both bad and good news for you. The bad news is that you are not getting maximum benefits out of Swift To-Do List. The good news is that in just 10 minutes or so, you can feel happier and more efficient.

The #1 cause of work-related stress and worry is the necessity to remember information that is not written down. This starts an endless spiral of worrying and questioning yourself: “Am I forgetting about something important?”

You probably already understand this problem. And I salute you for obtaining Swift To-Do List. However, if you really want to feel relaxed and reclaim all your mental resources wasted on worrying, you need to do the following.

You need to write all tasks, all time-sensitive, and all important work-related information into Swift To-Do List. Not just tasks – but anything you would have to remember otherwise.

Note: If you have a lot of reference material, you might already have some other system than Swift To-Do List for managing it – and that’s completely fine. Just make sure that your mind is not part of that system!

Since version 8, Swift To-Do List allows you to manage not just to-do lists, but also “Lists” in general. You can use them, along with Memos, to capture non-task information.

So, what are you juggling in your mind? Write it into Swift To-Do List, right now. You will be glad you did – and feel the difference with an immediate sigh of relief.

If you would like to learn more about why it is important to capture information into Swift To-Do List, and how to do it best, take a look at my new Swift Mind Freedom e-book.

30-second check: Do you get the maximum from Swift To-Do List? is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Is your to-do list impossible to finish?

Jiri Novotny — Thu, 05 Dec 2013 21:19:44 +0000

(This article is based on Principle #5 in the Swift Mind Freedom method.)

Sometimes, you might have a feeling that you will never finish your to-do list. And you know what? It might be true. It might be entirely possible that your to-do list is indeed impossible to finish. This happens when you place non-tasks on your to-do list.

You see, there are two types of items that might appear on your personal organizer lists: tasks and non-tasks.

Tasks are actionable. Tasks are actions you decided to do.

Non-tasks are non-actionable. Non-tasks are ideas, notes, thoughts, reference-material and information.

It is very important to understand the difference between “actionable” and “non-actionable” (tasks and non-tasks), because if you don’t, it will be absolutely impossible to finish your to-do lists.

You should never place non-tasks on a to-do list among tasks. Why? Because you can’t “do” non-tasks, so they just sit there cluttering your to-do list, making it cumbersome to read – and impossible to finish!

To-do lists are for tasks you can do. Non-tasks belong in a separate list or place.

Since we all have both tasks and non-tasks, I strongly recommend having at least 2 separate lists.

One or more to-do lists with tasks (actions)
One or more lists with non-tasks (ideas and information), and as many collections of notes, memos and reference material you need. Again, all this should be kept separate from your to-do list with tasks.

Note: Ideas are not tasks because you’ve not yet decided to do them, so they are not yet actionable. But if you decide to take action on some idea, it becomes a task.

How to separate tasks and non-tasks in Swift To-Do List

I will now show you how you can separate your tasks and non-tasks in Swift To-Do List.

Just do this -

Make sure that you have an “Ideas List” created in the to-do list tree. You will be moving all non-tasks into it. To create it, use menu Tree – Add To-Do List, and in the Add To-Do List window, check “List“. Then name the list “Ideas List” and press OK.
Now, go through all the tasks you’ve captured up to this point, and whenever you encounter a non-task, move it to the Ideas List. You can simply select the non-task and using mouse, Drag and Drop it to the Ideas List in the to-do list tree. Or, you can select it and press Ctrl+X to cut it, then click the Ideas List, and press Ctrl+V to paste it. Tip: You can do both these operations with multiple items at once.
Now back to the information you put into “Ideas List”. If you have lot of non-tasks, you might want to create multiple “Ideas Lists” and categorize them by project or topic if possible. (You can just Drag and Drop items to other lists or to-do lists in the tree.)

And that’s it! Congratulations! You’ve separated your tasks and non-tasks. Isn’t that better? Now, it should be actually possible to “finish” your to-do list.

Also, here is an important distinction: At times you will have information, reference material or notes that are directly connected to a specific task. You want this information handy when you look at the task and ready to do it. Put this information into the Notes section of that particular task, instead of keeping it isolated on the idea list or somewhere else. This way, when you work on the task, you will immediately see the important related information, and it also won’t unnecessarily clutter your Ideas List.

Is your to-do list impossible to finish? is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

How to use Due Dates in your to-do list correctly

Jiri Novotny — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 16:20:38 +0000

When should you set Due Dates for your tasks?

Well, I have 2 recommendations:

You want to use Due Dates when you have a task that must be done on a specific day – e.g. it’s an appointment, event, or it’s an important deadline. I also recommend you to set a reminder for all such tasks.

And -

Unless you are 100% determined to do something on a specific day, I think that you shouldn’t use arbitrary (made up) Due Dates in most situations. It is usually more efficient to prioritize such tasks accordingly.

Start Dates and Due Dates should therefore be used sparingly. If you use a Start Date or a Due Date, it should be absolutely necessary to do the action on that particular date, or, you should be 100% committed to doing it.

So in practice, most of your tasks will probably have no Due Date. In fact, you don’t have to use Due Dates at all and just use reminders for the few tasks that are date-critical.

Here’s an exception to this rule. If you believe that you prioritize your tasks correctly, but still discover that you seldom do what you actually want to do on any given day, you might consider utilizing arbitrary Due Dates, especially if you are fairly self-disciplined. Arbitrary Due Dates can act as a secondary (or primary) prioritizing method. Here’s how it works -

You can use Due Dates to mark (plan) your tasks for today and tomorrow. I don’t recommend planning things too far ahead (more than a week ahead), because you probably won’t be able to keep the “schedule” up-to-date.

Advantage of planning your tasks for a given day beforehand is that you will tend to get more done. You will try to get the scheduled tasks done, because you know that tomorrow, you need to do other tasks. Also, when planning with Due Dates, you are less likely to get distracted by new incoming tasks in favor of your planned tasks.

So, in practice, you can choose the tasks that you want to do today and set today Due Date to them. Then pick the tasks you want to do tomorrow, and set tomorrow Due Date to them. Etc. But don’t plan more than a week ahead.

Inside each day, you can then prioritize the tasks using your current prioritizing system. In Swift To-Do List, click the Due Date column, then hold the Ctrl key and click the Priority column. That way, your tasks will be sorted by Due Date first and by Priority second. You can also use the small calendar below the to-do list tree to quickly view only today’s tasks with 1 click.

Beware this trap though: When you use both necessary and arbitrary Due Dates, the tasks that really must be done on a specific day might get lost among the tasks you would just like to do on a specific day. As a possible solution, insert a “[DATE CRITICAL]” prefix into the task names of tasks with the non-arbitrary Due Dates.

One final tip: If you want the expired Due Dates to be automatically set to current date, you can use menu File – Options, and in the Task-View section of the Options window, check “Roll-over Due Dates“. With this option enabled, when you won’t finish a task you’ve planned for today, it will automatically move to tomorrow.

How to use Due Dates in your to-do list correctly is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

New research explains why you can’t get anything done

Jiri Novotny — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 12:17:58 +0000

Since publishing my super-popular post “Are you a Zen Coder or a Distraction Junkie“, I’ve been doing some more research.

So… do you ever wonder why you can’t get anything done?

Well, Julie Morgenstern, the #1 USA professional organizer, explains what new research revealed:

According to a study published by Cubesmart Inc., we experience on average, one interruption every 8 minutes or approximately 6-7 per hour.

That equals about 50-60 interruptions in an 8 hour day.

Most interruptions take approximately 5-15 minutes. If you receive 50 interruptions daily and each takes 10 minutes, that totals 500 minutes, which is 8 hours per day.

Ouch! No wonder you feel the need to work 12 hours per day… 8 handling interruptions, and 4 getting your work done after hours.

Sobering, isn’t it? Or, consider this study:

“In a recent study, a group of Microsoft workers took, on average, 15 minutes to return to serious mental tasks, like writing reports or computer code, after responding to incoming e-mail or instant messages. They strayed off to reply to other messages or browse news, sports or entertainment Web sites.”

The bottom line is this -

DISTRACTION equals DESTRUCTION …of productivity and your future career and success in life.

Interruptions and distractions are the #1 reason why we can’t get anything done in the office.

Yes, you can use all sorts of fancy productivity techniques, but as long as people and things keep distracting and interrupting you, you won’t accomplish anything. It will be impossible.

You are either distraction-driven, or productive. Your mind is either scattered all over the place, or focused.

It’s your career and future at stake here. It’s a very serious problem – and most people don’t have a clue about it.

Fortunately, here are 5 action steps you can do right now to turn things around -

You absolutely need to get rid of as many interruptions and distractions as possible, immediately. And this is what you need to do -

Disable all popups and notifications – on your computer, phone, tablet. Everywhere. Be brutal.
Start explaining to your co-workers that when they need something, they should email you. Be polite but firm and persistent. Also tell them that calling you or walking to your desk should be used only in important urgent matters.
Check your email only twice a day. Keep your email closed the rest of the day. This is key.
Keep your phone on vibrate if possible. And remember: You don’t have to pick up the phone just because it rings.
Don’t “train” others to expect your response immediately in trivial matters. If it takes you 24+ hours to reply to an email, they will learn to obtain the information themselves instead of contacting you all the time, sometimes unnecessarily.

Once you do these 5 things, you will make it possible for yourself to actually get something done!

Then, the next step is to schedule some un-interrupted blocks of time without distractions. Once you do that, you will be more productive than ever – and start going home sooner.

The perfect workflow

Your workday can look like this:

Look at your to-do list to see what’s next
Do it
Mark it as complete in your to-do list
Go to 1 and repeat

If your current workflow doesn’t look anything like that, well, blame the distractions and interruptions.

PS: Psssst. Let me tell you a secret — ready? — YOU are the one who is allowing the distractions and interruptions into your life. You are responsible. I suggest you take control of your work environment and life back into your hands – today.

You can start by removing the “email drug” needle from your arm, disabling all notifications, and training your co-workers to stop interrupting you all the time.

New research explains why you can’t get anything done is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

So, do you want to build 100 tiny houses, or 1 skyscraper?

Jiri Novotny — Sun, 07 Jul 2013 13:42:24 +0000

I see this all the time.

People love starting new projects, businesses and ideas.

So they start building something and make rapid progress – they build and build, and they end up building a 1 foot tall “house”. But then something happens. They jump to something else. So they end up with a bunch of 1 foot tall houses. Dozens, hundreds of them.

(Yep, there are tiny 100 houses in the picture. In reality, it would look even worse, because the houses would probably have no roofs or doors.)

Here’s the deal -

You need to build a skyscraper, not a bunch of broken, unimpressive tiny houses.

If you want significant results, impact and success, you need to keep working on that one thing and keep building upon it for years.

Don’t get me wrong – I am all for the “Lean Startup” philosophy of quick-and-dirty rapid prototypes, minimum viable products, etc.

However, once you find something that has legs, then for crying out loud, as long as you are making progress, keep working on it! For years.

We’ve started our software business 9 years ago from scratch. And I’m SO glad that we’ve never stopped working on it. It’s a nice small skyscraper now. Of course, inside the business, we have built and discarded a few tiny houses (projects with no legs). But once we released Swift To-Do List and our customers loved it, we never stopped working on it and made it our #1 priority.

Today, we have fantastic product, fantastic internal systems, fantastic information resources for our customers and website, and fantastic people on our team. All it took was 9 years of hard work and never-ending improvement.

Here’s my question to you -

Can you stick to something for 30 minutes?

An hour…? A day…? A week…? A month even?

Yes? Can you? Maybe you can.

Well, how about for 5 years?

Have you even considered it?

Instead of building yet another tiny house with no roof and door, build another floor for your new skyscraper.

Focus on your best project or idea, and as long as you are making progress, never stop working on it.

The world will love and reward you for it.

So, do you want to build 100 tiny houses, or 1 skyscraper? is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Swift To-Do List case study by Bob McClellan, IT manager

Jiri Novotny — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 10:03:41 +0000

Q: What is Swift To-Do List to you?

Swift To-Do List is much more than a task scheduler. For me it’s a project management tool. All projects, regardless of how big or small… now start in Swift To-Do List.

Q: What problems does Swift To-Do List help you overcome?

The problems and challenges that Swift To-Do List helps me with is the ability to organize my work.

Q: What effect did Swift To-Do List have on your life?

The biggest impact is that it provided me the feeling of control.

Everything I am working on (and have worked on since starting to use Swift To-Do List), is organized, easy to find and easy to jump into as needed.

Q: Which are your favorite 5 features, and why?

Here you go…

1. Subtasks became my favorite feature of Swift To-Do List. This refines the ability to organize and allows you to create ‘Steps’ for any given task.

2. Filters. Next is the flexibility to create and filter by any number of combinations of a task’s properties. Status, Priority, Due Date etc…

3. Notes. Having notes for each task and sub-task is key to keeping all specifics related to a given step or job task.

4. Shortcuts, links & attachments. Everything I work on revolves around associated files… .xls, .doc, .accdb, .sql etc. Being able to easily link to the related files is what ties it all together.

5. Calendar panel. Being able to quickly see, scroll through… and act upon tasks due on a given date is huge. This allows you to flag tasks and forget about them till you need to address them.

There are many AWESOME features that make Swift To-Do List the program that is always in use both at home at the office. Simply put… for me at least… this has become an indispensable tool.

Bob’s Swift To-Do List Review

Introduction

Being a database application developer, I felt like I was in a never ending quest to find the ultimate program to allow me to keep all my projects, tasks, schedules and code, in a manageable format that was easy to navigate and maintain.

I tried everything from using spreadsheets with hyperlinks to multiple versions of programs I’d build myself, to the Outlook tasks & calendar. Until I stumbled upon Swift To-Do List. I must say… I think I finally found the ultimate program I’ve been looking for.

Let me elaborate

When I first started reading about it I thought… hmmm this looks like it has potential. I downloaded the trial version (which you can use for free for 30 days).

I started using It and couldn’t help but smile as it became obvious how easy it was to navigate and customize.

All the logic that I tried to incorporate into the way I work day in and day out was somehow all part of this program. Swift To-Do List allows you to effortlessly stay organized and focused on the tasks that really need attention.

Before Swift To-Do List, trying to maintain focus on projects was a job in and of itself. Interruptions from people walking in, calling or emailing seemed to be a constant distraction. Everything was important enough that it required at least a bit of note taking along with shuffling the work queue to determine what priority each new task warranted.

How I use Swift To-Do List

In addition to capitalizing on the ease in which tasks can be shuffled into the work queue, I also set up individual tasks for different projects I am working on.

The beauty here is that all related files, code, notes and logic is stored together. As the project grows, you keep adding what you need. This allows you to maintain focus and not feel overwhelmed.

Each task has its own notes as well as shortcuts to files, folders or web addresses. (this is KEY for me)

You can use sequencing to plan through each phase. This really helps me keep tabs on the scope of each project. I set up separate To-Do lists for each Project. Each task within the project then becomes its own entity.

Check out the screenshot below…

For me, the way this is laid out, combined with the ease to customize… just about everything… well… it just doesn’t get any better than this.

This is exactly what I need to work the way I want to. It allows me to keep an eye on everything. The counters in the tree allow you to see open tasks at a glance.

When you are ready to do work, hit the global hot key and Swift To-Do List is minimized to the tray. While you are working… if you think of something you need to remember, or you need to add a shortcut for the file you just spent 20 minutes on… simply hit the global hot key and Swift To-Do List is right in front of you. Add the shortcut.. make a note… hot key it back to the tray. It’s a beautiful thing.

It’s hard to elaborate on exactly how easy this program lets you to dump your thoughts, plans & new ideas into a central repository for speedy retrieval on demand. I highly recommend downloading the free 30 day trial to see for yourself.

As projects are completed, you can move them to an archive folder. No need to try and remember where it’s at… Simply CTRL+F to find it. Quickly and easily… your mind is right back into the project you finished 2 weeks ago.

I purchased it after 2 weeks of use. I am thoroughly happy with this software and have no reservation about recommending it… (and I have to all my family and friends).

One ecstatic customer,

– Bob McClellan

Swift To-Do List case study by Bob McClellan, IT manager is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Endless to-do list

Jiri Novotny — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 08:16:54 +0000

There is an infinite amount of work to be done.

And it’s OK. That’s just the way it is.

If you try, you will have no problem coming up with so many things to do that it would take you more than a lifetime to do them all. Anyone can sit down and generate hundreds and thousands of tasks, ideas, goals and projects.

Your to-do list is endless. It will always be endless.

And it’s OK.

Also, what’s written on your to-do list is just a tiny fraction of all the things you could potentially do. But hopefully, the things on your to-do list are the ones that are important. If not, you need to fix that.

Not only that your to-do list is endless, many of the tasks on your to-do list are also endless. Many projects can be worked on, optimized, tweaked and improved infinitely.

And it’s OK.

You simply need to know when to stop “perfecting” things. There’s a certain point when working on something stops making sense. It’s the law of diminishing returns.

You will never do it all – that’s impossible.

And it’s OK. It’s just the way things are.

Since there is an infinite amount of work to be done, the game is not about doing more. It’s all about doing what matters now.

Anyone can be crazy-busy, running on the treadmill of endless activity. But only few people can be truly productive.

Working 16 hours a day is not impressive. Creating immense value, getting results, accomplishing remarkable things, learning, enjoying the journey – that’s impressive.

First and foremost, it’s about what work you do. Only then it makes sense to ask how much work you do.

It’s all about the results and value you create. Or, it’s about the journey and what you learn. But it’s never about doing things with little or even negative impact.

So…. what do you make out of this?

Well:

Don’t worry about doing all your tasks. It’s impossible anyway.
Prioritize. Pick the right things to do now. Don’t plan too much ahead. Things change too much anyway.
Know when to stop working on things. Learn to say “good enough”. It will never be perfect anyway.

And remember – it’s OK.

Maybe all this sounds like common sense. But have you ever fully embraced and accepted that you can’t do it all?

Don’t fight the reality. The odds are against you. The endless amount of work will paralyze you.

Should you accept and embrace reality, you will become incredibly productive. You will do what matters – and only what matters. People will wonder: How is it possible you get so much done?

Endless to-do list is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

How to separate work and personal tasks

Jiri Novotny — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:22:58 +0000

When you use a to-do list software (such as Swift To-Do List) for some time, you will end up with many captured tasks.

If you feel that you could organize your tasks better, you probably could. The easiest way of doing that is to categorize your tasks into multiple to-do lists.

One way of doing that is separating your work-related and personal tasks.

Today, I will show you exactly how to do that (step-by-step). You will also learn how to additionally categorize your tasks by areas/projects, and how to view all work-related or personal tasks at once.

Separating Work and Personal tasks

You can create as many to-do lists as you need in the to-do list tree. You might have already created several to-do lists – in that case, you can use the following information for inspiration to refine your current categorization.

Now, let’s create two new top-level to-do lists, “Work” and “Personal” and then divide all your existing tasks among them.

Here are the steps to separate your personal and work tasks:

Use menu Tree – Add To-Do List to create a new to-do list named “Personal”.
Use menu Tree – Add To-Do List to create a new to-do list named “Work”.
Click your current to-do list (where your tasks are) to view it, and Drag and Drop each personal task to the new “Personal” to-do list, and each work-related task to the new “Work” to-do list. Dragging and Dropping tasks works the same as when you move files to a folder in Windows. If you don’t know how to do this, here is a video (moving tasks to a different to-do list is shown in about halfway the video). You can also Cut and Paste the tasks instead of using Drag and Drop.
Finally, if your current to-do list is empty now, you might want to delete it (right-click it, and select Delete), so you have just the two new lists – “Work” and “Personal”.

Congratulations! You’ve successfully separated your personal and work tasks.

Organizing your work tasks by areas

Now, let’s setup several to-do lists based on areas/projects of your work tasks.

When it comes to your work tasks, ask yourself: What are the 3-5 main areas (or projects)?
For each area/project where it makes sense to you, create a new sub-to-do-list under the “Work” to-do list. To do that, right-click the “Work” to-do list and select Add Sub To-Do List in the popup menu. Name each new sub-to-do list based on the area or project (e.g. “Marketing”, “Reports”, “Presentations”, “Clients”, “Project Omega”, etc.)
Move tasks that belong to a certain area/project to their new home. Again, you can use Drag and Drop and your mouse, or Cut and Paste.

Tip: You can also Drag and Drop the actual to-do lists and memos around the tree using your mouse too, to re-order and organize them.

The result might look like this:

You can of course do the same for your personal tasks now.

Viewing tasks from multiple lists at once

Sometimes, it is useful to view all tasks at once, so you can get a big picture perspective.

Now, if you need to view all tasks at once, you can click the big View button in the main toolbar, and select All Lists:

To view only the selected to-do list again, press the View button again, and click Selected To-Do List.

Here is the really useful thing though –

If you want to view all your work-related tasks, you can select the Work to-do list in the tree, and then, click the View button and click Selected List + Sub-lists. This will display all tasks from the Work to-do list, and also all tasks from all its sub-lists.

Likewise, if you want to view only personal tasks, you can select the Personal to-do list in the tree, and again, make sure the view mode is set to Selected List + Sub-lists.

So now you can view only one particular to-do list, or all tasks at once, or only work-related tasks, or only personal tasks. Quite useful, isn’t it?

Another way of reducing complexity and making your list shorter is to use the Hide Until feature.

How to separate work and personal tasks is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Freedom vs. Structure …and Productivity

Jiri Novotny — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:40:37 +0000

Myers-Briggs (personality type indicator) distinguishes between extroverts and introverts, sensors and intuitors, thinkers and feelers, and judgers and perceivers. The last dichotomy (judgers vs. perceivers) fascinates me the most.

The common description of judgers is that they are organized, have their life structured and everything planned, arrive on time (or even early), want everything to be decided and settled, often seem rigid – but also responsible, and like closure. It is unacceptable to them not to get things done, not to get results, not to finish. (Note: “judger” does not mean judgmental.)

On the other hand, perceivers seem chaotic, are spontaneous and flexible, often arrive late (or not at all), don’t like making decisions, always feel it’s premature to make a decision, always want more information, like to keep their options open, want things to be open-ended, tend to procrastinate, and prefer starting new things to finishing them.

Which one are you?

Now, there is other, much more interesting definition: Judgers try to “lock down” the external world, so they have internal freedom. Perceivers try to “lock down” the internal world, so they have outer world freedom.

And to evolve ourselves to the next level, we need to develop and integrate both our Judging and Perceiving aspects. It is usually our weakest aspect that limits us the most.

Perceivers have problems making decisions. The word “decision” originally comes from Latin, and it literally means “to cut off”. When you decide, you cut the other options off. Perceivers hate that – they want to keep as many options open as possible. However, this comes at a price: When they keep postponing decisions, they might never decide. When they not get on a particular train, because they are afraid they might miss a better one, they might miss all the trains.

That being said, it seems to me that ultimately in the end-game, it’s more advantageous to be an “enlightened” perceiver – and have the outer world freedom. Part of Nathaniel Branden’s definition of self-esteem is knowing you are competent to cope with the basic challenges in life. But how about knowing you will thrive, regardless the challenges in life? Regardless the environment? To me, that seems worth striving for.

However, I also think that if you really want to be efficient as a perceiver, you have to develop your judger muscles. And no, there is no other option (even getting someone else to structure your life isn’t sufficient). Developing those muscles and going through a “judger stage” can be very challenging. You need to structure and organize the outer world (your life), so it pushes you to be efficient and get things done. This also gives you the opportunity to master the control of your inner impulses, and discover which structures give you the most leverage on yourself and when to use them.

The ultimate idea is that as an enlightened perceiver, you have an inner compass so strong and powerful, that you move forward regardless all hell breaking loose. The inner compass must be stronger than the low inner impulses from your reptilian brain, and it must be stronger than distractions and interruptions from the outer world.

All that being said, it will probably always be advantageous (from the efficiency standpoint) to outsource a significant amount of your daily decision making to outer structures (= being organized, having things pre-decided and planned). It just makes sense – the same way it makes sense to buy socks rather than to tailor them yourself.

What once seemed an extreme measure becomes a natural thing and a necessity when the stakes are high (in your life and mission).

For example, do you know what these people have in common?

They have or had a wardrobe full of completely identical clothes. Why? They don’t want to waste time and energy deciding everyday “bullshit” like “What am I going to wear” – not to speak of having to buy new clothes every 3-6 months.

Einstein is said to be probably the most famous INTP (Introvert, Intuitive, Thinker, Perceiver). But he’s not your common garden-variety perceiver: There is no way he could’ve accomplished what he has done without building his judger muscles.

To sum this up, here’s what you can do to get to the next level:

If you are a perceiver, get organized, embrace structure, stop procrastinating, start finishing things and learn to make quick decisions. Go overboard… for a year. Then, loosen up.

If you are judger, first loosen up, then work on your inner compass (discover your values and goals), and work on your flexibility. Do a lot of soul-searching. Then, play on your natural strength and become as efficient as you can with your new inner compass.

This is true freedom.

Freedom vs. Structure …and Productivity is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

2 rules of naming tasks correctly

Jiri Novotny — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 08:58:50 +0000

I will share with you 2 rules of naming tasks correctly. If you apply them, your to-do list will empower you to take action. If you don’t, your to-do list will cripple your ability to move forward.

I’ve already talked about the importance of writing everything down immediately to maintain a peace of mind. I’ve also talked about the importance of consolidating your to-do lists and keeping everything in one place. These two things indeed are the key – but once you master them, there is another thing you can do to make your to-do lists super-useful and empower you to take more action.

Tasks are actionable items. They are actions that need to be taken. And it’s too easy to forget this when writing your tasks down. The words you use to write a task matter a great deal.

You should always use actionable task names, which contain specific actions – verbs.

In the task name, always write the action you need to take to move the task forward, and be as specific as possible.

Two rules of naming tasks are:

All task names should contain an action (begin with a verb, and ideally describe the next step).
All task names should be as specific as possible

So, for example, don’t just name a task “Report”. A slightly better way to name it could be “Finish the report”, but it’s still not the best wording because it’s not specific enough. It’s vague. It doesn’t tell you exactly what to do to finish the report, and which report.

Here’s a better task name: “Write the final summary in the Q4 Report to finish it”. That’s pretty specific and actionable. You know exactly what to do to move the task forward, and exactly which report the task relates to.

Or, you could name it like this: “Finish the Q4 Report” and add a subtask named “Write the final summary” – the subtask still contains the next action.

Why is this important?

When we look at our list and see just “Report”, we have no idea what to actually do or even a hint on how to start. We have to stop and figure it out, which is very inefficient, but also demotivating and creates a friction between us and the task.

It is much harder to get going when the task names are not actionable and not specific. All our brain sees when we look at vague task names is “This task is huge! Too much work! Too much thinking! Let’s do something else!” In such situations, we spend too much valuable energy trying to get started on the task. This opens the door for procrastination (social media, news, web-surfing and pointless busywork).

Try to use specific, actionable wording right when you first write the task down. In that moment, you probably know what the actual specific action is. So write it down. Don’t force yourself to figure it out later, when you don’t have all the relevant information on your mind anymore. When you start using specific actionable task names, you will save yourself a lot of time and energy. It’s just smart.

Task names which are specific and contain the action you want to take are:

More motivating and less intimidating
Easier for you to get started on
Saving you valuable time and mental energy
Less likely to be procrastinated on

Best of all, it takes you just a very little effort in the moment you are writing the task down for the first time. By writing the task in a way so it’s obvious what the next specific action is and what precisely needs to be done, you will get all the benefits above.

Here are a few examples of good and bad task names:

Bad task name	Good task name
Jim	Call Jim and ask about the quote
Paper	Finish the summary of the white paper and send it to Peter
Chair	Order online 5 new caster wheels for my office chair
Annual meeting	Prepare my presentation for the annual meeting
Letters	Sign and mail the letters to our 5 VIP partners

Here’s how you can apply this right now to experience the difference yourself: Open your to-do list, and re-word some of your most important tasks, so they contain the next action, and are as specific as possible.

(This post is an edited excerpt from my new e-book Swift Mind Freedom).

2 rules of naming tasks correctly is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Color your tasks in Swift To-Do List – The Definitive Guide

Jiri Novotny — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 14:06:07 +0000

In Swift To-Do List, you can can color your tasks based on Priority, Type, Status, Context or Assigned To..

Additionally, 3 different modes are supported when coloring tasks (column, task name, whole row). That’s a lot of combinations! So let me give you an example for coloring by Priority – I will show how each of the modes looks like:

1. Color inside the Priority column:

2. Color Task Names (based on Priority):

3. Color whole rows (based on priority):

By default, Swift To-Do List uses colors only in the Priority column, as shown in the first example. But you can customize and use colors much more – and in this post, you will learn all about it.

How to enable or customize colors

To enable or customize the colors, use the Manage menu:

Let’s say that we want to customize coloring by Type, so we will click the Type menu item. The following Manage Types window will be shown:

Very similar window would be shown for Priorities, Statuses, Contexts or Contacts (Assigned To). It works the same.

In this manage window, you can do 3 key things:

Enable or disable colors, by clicking the checkbox, as shown in the screenshot above.
Choose the color mode (Column/Task Name/Whole Row), as explained at the beginning of this post.
Change the colors for individual items. To do that, select an item, then click the Color button on the right.

Please note that for obvious reasons, you can’t use the Whole Row or Task Name coloring mode for two or more fields at once – e.g. both Priority and Type can’t color the Task Name.

However, the Column coloring mode can be combined with any other modes of other fields – e.g. Priority can color task names (or even whole rows), and at the same time, Type can color the Type column.

Also please note, that done tasks are always displayed in gray text with no color highlights.

Your coloring customizations are of course automatically saved and remembered, even after restarting the program.

Coloring Due Dates and Start Dates

Due Dates and Start Dates can be also additionally colored in the task-view. This is how it looks in action:

To configure this, use menu File – Options, and in the Options window, go to the Task-View section.:

There, make sure “Color due dates and start dates” is checked, and click Customize upon this checkbox. This will display the following window:

As you can see, today, tomorrow and expired dates can be highlighted using a color of your choosing. The “today” and “tomorrow” dates are also displayed in bold for extra highlight.

Bonus tip for Ultimate owners: Creating a “Color” column

This is a fun trick. If you want to color your tasks yourself, and not based on Priorities/Types/Contexts/Statuses/Assignees, you will love this -

If you own the Ultimate edition, and don’t use the Context or Type column, you can rename it to “Color”. To do that, use menu Manage – Columns. In the window shown, select and enable the Context or Type column, then click the Rename button. Type in “Color” and confirm.

Now, use menu Manage – Colors and rename all the contexts to color names. Then set them the appropriate color. As an example, after customizing, it can look like this:

And now, here’s the fun part! From now on, you will have a new “Color” column that you can use in Swift To-Do List. For each of your tasks, you can set an optional color. The result can look something like this:

Any questions or comments?

So, that’s it. Now you should be a master when it comes to using colors in Swift To-Do List.

We have a nifty little comments box at the bottom of this page – if you have a question or a comment, don’t hesitate to write something into it and click Submit comment! I will be happy to reply to all comments.

Color your tasks in Swift To-Do List – The Definitive Guide is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Start your workday the right way

Jiri Novotny — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 14:45:50 +0000

Take a moment to answer the following 4 questions:

How do you start your workday?

Do you start your workday by reacting to whatever comes at you first?

Or, do you start your workday with an ingrained routine?

And if you start workday with a routine, is it an optimal routine?

In one of my previous posts, Be Successful First Thing in the Morning, I emphasized the importance of starting your day the right way. Over time, it makes an enormous difference.

Perhaps you already have your “ritual” to start your workday – for example, you might start your workday by brewing coffee and checking and answering your email. But have you ever considered other (and possibly better) ways of starting your workday?

It might seem that checking your email first thing in the morning makes a lot of sense, as it helps you stay up to date. Unfortunately, it comes with a very high price: It throws you into a reactive state. Even if you’ve already planned what to do after you are done with the email, it will will open dozens of “drawers” in your mind – and it will become much harder to focus on your planned task at hand.

Focusing on a single task at a time is the best way to get anything done. However, focusing on a single task can be a great challenge in today’s information-overloaded environment.

For this reason, I recommend starting your workday by working on your most important task first – after you start your computer, check your Swift To-Do List to see what’s the next most important task for you to do right now, and immediately take action. Don’t do anything else until you make a progress on that task – don’t check any news or social sites, don’t check your email, don’t chat with your co-workers.

Even if you work on this chosen task for just 15 minutes, it will make a huge difference in your overall productivity and ability to focus. After you make a progress on the task, feel free to check your email – now it won’t affect you as much, as it will be easy for you to get back to your started task after you are done with the email.

Plus, you will feel really good about yourself. Right from the start of your workday, you will feel productive. And that can carry you quite far.

I’ve used this approach myself to write the Swift Mind Freedom e-book. Every morning, before doing anything else, I’ve been writing the book for 45 or 60 minutes. It worked great. However, whenever I didn’t start the day by writing, I usually didn’t get to it at all. Remember: Opening email can be dangerous :-)

Start your workday the right way is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

Always get stuff out of your head

Jiri Novotny — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 12:48:52 +0000

(This is an edited excerpt from my new e-book Swift Mind Freedom).

Let me ask you one question -

Why keep all your tasks, ideas, notes, worries, promises, commitments and reminders in
your head… when you can store them in your computer instead?

Don’t store things in your head. Put them in a trusted system. You will be rewarded with relief and increased mental capacity. You will feel better.

If there is one thing that technology is great at, it’s remembering things. Unlike our minds, computer will never forget what you enter into it. In fact, it can even remind you of things at the right time!

The biggest instant benefit of writing things down is that once you write something down, you feel relief instantly. Once you have captured a task (or idea), you can forget about it. You know where to find it in case you need it.

Think about this: Just as computer can get its memory (RAM) overloaded when too many programs are running at once, your mind can get overloaded when you are juggling too much stuff in your head.

By writing things down, you will increase your mental capacity. It’s like an upgrade for your brain. This can literally increase your IQ.

Put things out of your head, and into your organizing system

Whenever new task comes to you, write it down immediately (e.g. into Swift To-Do List).

And don’t write down just tasks, but anything that you would have to remember.

Develop this habit of capturing everything instantly.

This is the key.

Once you start doing this, you might be shocked how clearly you can think and how efficiently you can function. It’s almost like magic.

Always get stuff out of your head is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

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