<a href="http://davidhewson.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/screen-shot-2010-01-23-at-09-25-14.png"><img style="float:right;padding-left:4px;" src="http://davidhewson.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/screen-shot-2010-01-23-at-09-25-14-tm.jpg" alt="Screen shot 2010-01-23 at 09.25.14.png" width="250" height="156" /></a>When I was young I thought people who made lists were a bit soft in the head. I was wrong. The one who was soft in the head was me. Lists, provided you keep them simple and with you at all times, are wonderful things. I used one all the time in Venice last week, reminding myself of things to do and jotting down notes for the current project whenever they occurred.

But the odd thing is how hard it is to get lists right today. The easiest way I guess is to keep a little notebook and write them down in that. But I lose notebooks so that's not much use to me. There are stacks of to-do and 'task management' offerings out there. But many of them fall down, principally for one, or both, of two reasons.

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The first is complexity. A lot of this has to do with some strange thing out there called Getting Things Done (invariably shortened to GTD). This is a philosophy about how busy people should manage their time, with specific advice on procedures and setting up locations and all sorts of stuff that baffles me. If GTD works for you great. I have tried to understand what's going on -- and more importantly why I would need it -- and in spite of many wasted hours I've given up. I just don't get it. Sorry. All I want is a few simple lists. OK?

The second is availability. If a list is going to be useful it has to be with you everywhere, on your different computers and, crucially for me, your phone. Most of my entries are now made on a phone because that's the easiest thing that comes to hand when an idea strikes.

On the Mac there are some great task managers. One of the best, <em><a href="http://culturedcode.com/things/" target="_blank">Things</a>,</em> has an iPhone app too. But I don't use an iPhone so that's not much use. And also Things is a bit more complicated than I need frankly, though nowhere near as prolix as the utterly impenetrable<span style="text-decoration:line-through;"> <a href="http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnioutliner/" target="_blank">OmniOutliner</a></span> <a href="http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnifocus/" target="_blank">OmniFocus </a>which I bought too and found so impenetrable it might as well have been written in Urdu.

I now switch between two web-based apps for to-dos and note-taking. The simplest is <a href="http://www.rememberthemilk.com" target="_blank">Remember the Milk</a>, which you can see at the top of this page. RTM is free or inexpensive, comes with apps for iPhone and Android and is very, very simple. Because it's web-based it frees you from worrying about syncing data between computers and phones. In fact you can even add list items -- and get reminders -- through Twitter. Just send yourself a message, 'Lunch with Fred 3 pm Tuesday' and it recognises the dates and sets up the reminder and everything. One moan about RTM: I really wish it had a proper desktop app too, to make handling everything a lot easier on a computer.

RTM is just for simple short task notes. If I need something longer I use <a href="http://www.evernote.com/" target="_blank">Evernote</a>. This is more an online notebook than a to do list manager. It will let you set up lists mind, though not with reminders as far as I can see. If RTM is a bit on the simple side Evernote -- which is free at its most basic level -- is a bit on the complex. These days I use both -- RTM for the top of the head 'must do this' kind of note and Evernote for the longer stuff (and it can store pictures from your phone and audio too if you talk to it).

<a href="http://davidhewson.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/screen-shot-2010-01-23-at-12-18-28.png"><img style="float:right;padding-left:4px;" src="http://davidhewson.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/screen-shot-2010-01-23-at-12-18-28-tm.jpg" alt="Screen shot 2010-01-23 at 12.18.28.png" width="250" height="186" /></a>Why are lists so great? Simple. Because they stop us forgetting things. I've lost count of the many seemingly great ideas I've lost over the years for no other reason than a mislaid notebook, a change in computer or something I simply don't understand. Once you keep your notes and ideas on the web all that goes away. You can go back and pick up stuff from a year or two ago and suddenly think, 'Oh that was a good idea..' Or realise it was rubbish.

A writer's life involves the constant juggling of ideas, good and bad. Trying to work out which is which is just one challenge we face. But a lost idea is just plain lost, gone forever, through nothing but a basic lack of organisation. And who knows? It could have been the best idea you'll ever have.