For a long time at work, I had a word-processor file with to-do items at the top followed by journal entries, most-recent first. This became unmanageable so I split out my to-do list into a separate WP file.

In meetings, as I take handwritten notes, I flag "action items" with an eyecatching star, to tackle right away after the meeting or at least transcribe into my medium-range to-do list. But now, eyeballing my journal, I see it could work to just copy my hand notes directly into the journal, with the "to do" star easily differentiable by sight from a "done" leading dash in my outline-style notation. Then as I clear to-do items, I can replace the asterisk with the dash.

The problem is, this tells me when I received a task, but not when I completed it - unless I double up and copy deferred tasks to the day they get closed. And then I need THREE flags - one to designate a received task, not yet closed; another to mark the task closed; and a third to designate a deferred task entry the day I close it (marking off the actual time-use).

I guess this is why project-management and dayplanner software is complicated.
So I think I'm going to stick with what I do now:
- meeting notes (including new tasks) logged outline-style to the meeting day's journal entry
- a separate open tasks file
- deferred tasks logged to the completion date's journal entry

This approach spares you having to trawl backward through the journal to spot open tasks, decide for each whether to abandon, tackle, or leave it open, and jump back to the top to log it done if you do it.

* * *

Protein shake and 100mg caf pill for breakfast. I had objected to using the rolls I stash at work for a hamsteak sandwich, but since the hamsteak was pre-baggied and it's unlike me to make time to assemble lunch before work, that's what I ended up doing. Rice, chickpeas with pasta sauce, and honey sriracha chx for dinner. 2 more eps of Breaking Bad and bedtime.