How do you sync your electronic to-do list with your physical to-do list?

I keep several large whiteboards at home that handle all of my daily, weekly, quarterly and long-term tasks/projects. I do not want to carry a day planner around given the way my life is, I use my phone. I haven't particularly decided on an electronic to-do list, but I've decided against RTM. Right now I just sort of email myself reminders (from the computer or the phone) and write them down at home. There has to be a better way.

I want to keep my physical listings in sync with my electronic listings. What's the best way to do this? My main goal is to be able to remember tasks assigned to myself during the day so that they can be transferred to my whiteboards at home. I don't want my at-home to-do lists to be electronic, so something like evernote that syncs won't work with to-do, but it is an effective tool for remembering specific things.

Edit
Per suggestion from comment, what I do like about RTM/Evernote is that I can manage my lists and tasks via a web interface AND on my android phone. I'm currently trying List Master Pro for Android and what I dislike about it most is the lack of a web interface. I also disliked Tasks N Todos because of that, but I did like that it synced with gtasks.

Cloud-based is good, but subscription based is not, for me. Web interface makes it easy to transfer from the computer to the whiteboards. I guess this is why I've been emailing myself, it meets all of these requirements, but it's difficult to create lists, but as one answer pointed out, it gives me time to prioritize as I transfer

Raystafarian

Posted 2012-02-04T14:00:55.700

Reputation: 1 794

1"Right now I just sort of email myself reminders (from the computer or the phone) and write them down at home. There has to be a better way." This is absolutely what I do - except I don't write them down at home - because I find myself obsessively checking my email on my phone I thought I might as well that work for me... – Joe – 2012-02-04T14:12:57.217

1Can you elaborate on why you've decided against RTM? Knowing what you don't like about that tool or approach will make it easier to identify solutions that would work for you. For example, is it out because it's subscription based, cloud-based, etc. Do you like the large white boards for your lists and just want a ubiquitous capture mechanism for when you're not by your boards that's better than email? – Adam Wuerl – 2012-02-04T16:46:10.727

@AdamWuerl I've decided against RTM because of the cost of it. I love the mechanics of it, the web interface, but the fact that I need to purchase it to sync the android app to the cloud more than once (per hour or 12 hours, I forget) made me abandon it – Raystafarian – 2012-02-04T16:49:33.807

Answers

I think the only way you'll find to sync electronic with physical is to print things out and pin them to the board. :( I'm not going to suggest any changes in process, but possibly a different way of looking your methodology.

Rather than thinking of syncing - the GTD approach would, (I think), be to consider only one of these your main 'next actions' list and the other to be one of your 'buckets to store things to be sorted in.

So - it sounds like you want your whiteboards to be your main planning tool/lists (which is great, I used something similar for a while). But it might be worth considering that the process of going through your 'email bucket' and transferring the items to your todo list is quite beneficial - while moving things from your bucket to your todo list your also deciding on priories and next actions in a decent and structured way. I think your process sounds like it works well as it is....:)

Joe

Posted 2012-02-04T14:00:55.700

Reputation: 6 332

Sent you some +50 as I appreciate your input, I just don't know if I can mark this as answering the question quite yet. – Raystafarian – 2012-02-07T13:07:12.763

I use an iPad and a stylus. I have a notes app which lets me write down my todo lists in handwriting. I organize these lists in notebooks. I can sync them to Evernote afterwards. There probably is something similar for the iPhone as well. I can also customize the type of paper I use and have templates for: notebooks, planners, todo lists, priority lists, action logs etc.

Mihai Oprea

Posted 2012-02-04T14:00:55.700

Reputation: 1 089

I use Google calendar and put my to-do list in its event description(each event might have its own specific to-do list). Also I asked google to send me notification (email and sms) 10 mins(sometimes 30 mins) before the event. As I have an android phone, I can see or modify my to-do lists and calendar whenever and whereever I want. I don't see any need for physical to-do list.

kami

Posted 2012-02-04T14:00:55.700

Reputation: 684

At home I'm not usually fiddling with my phone nor do I have a calendar open, which is why I stick to the whiteboard, in my face. That's a great solution for work, but as far as syncing to my physical media, it's less than ideal – Raystafarian – 2012-02-07T13:05:15.030