Boosting Your Productivity with Remember The Milk

By Mark Ling
Boosting Your Productivity with Remember The Milk

 

Hey Everyone, I want to talk to you today about a tool that you can use to greatly increase your personal productivity.

It’s a free online tool called Remember the Milk. It's also available on the iphone, ipad and numerous other phones and devices and it’s one of the better task management tools I’ve seen in a long time.

I'm a fan of David Allen's "Getting Things Done" methodology. If you haven't read this book, look it up on Amazon.com, it's one of the best books in the world that will teach you how to boost your productivity at work and at home. 'Remember The Milk' is essentially a software based way of doing what David Allen teaches in his book.

Getting Things Done in a Nutshell

Before explaining how Remember the Milk works, I'll give you the cliff notes guide to 'Getting things done' methodology.

Everything that is going on in your life is running around in your brain in 'open loops' that you may not be consciously aware of. These open loops cause you to do things slower, similar to how a computer runs slower if you have too many applications open at the same time.

So the first step is to identify all the things that you have 'to do' in your life and write it down as an actionable task.

David Allen recommends putting them in an 'inbox' with each task on a separate sheet of paper.

Then when you start each day, you work your way through your inbox of tasks and either 'do it', 'delegate it', 'defer it' or delete it.

Particularly urgent or priority tasks can automatically be put at the top of the pile, however be careful not to spend too much time categorizing your tasks as the idea is to just work through them quickly either doing them, delegating, deferring or deleting them.

If you find yourself becoming distracted by a new idea, or a new task that suddenly crops up, simply write down that new idea in an 'ideas folder' and go back to check through those ideas on a monthly or weekly basis, so that they don't distract you in the here and now. New tasks should just get written down and added to your inbox.

You'll find this very satisfying, it's somewhat liberating to have everything that you need to do in your life all organized into actionable tasks that you can get rid of.

It gives you great confidence in the fact that nothing gets lost and you always know what you have left to do, evening 'remembering the milk'

You may wish to have more than one category of inbox, such as Work, Study and Personal. I recommend not having too many categories, though a few will be helpful.

In addition, in David Allen's system, there are other things that I have left out of my short summation, such as an ongoing series of reviews in which you periodically go over your now organized items from various levels of granularity to ensure that your individual projects and their takss are working in focus with your side to side scanning of new tasks for your inbox.

Here's where Remember the Milk comes in...

As I mentioned earlier in this post, Remember the Milk is essentially software that allows you to easily implement David Allen's 'Getting Things Done' methodology to boost your productivity and declutter your thinking.

With a simple, easy to use interface, organizational tools, and the ability to sync your schedule across multiple platforms, Remember the Milk is a productivity tool that can help you keep track of everything you have going on – from your next affiliate website to the stuff you need to grab from the store on the way home (hint, hint – don’t forget the milk!)

The Basics

Signing up for Remember the Milk is simple. Just give your name and email and choose a desired screen name. After you’ve verified the email you can log into the home page, where you can start entering in tasks. From here there are several tabs that can be used to organize your tasks:


•    Personal
•    Study
•    Work

You can also create new categories if you wish to add more.

If you wish to utilize this tool with others, such as in a workplace environment, you also have the ability to send and receive tasks. If someone sends you a task, it will show up in your inbox with all of the information included. If you need to send a task to someone else, you can do so by clicking on a task you’ve created, going to the “More Actions” tab, and sending it to one of your contacts.

 

Even if you are the only one using it, you can still manually add new tasks as they arrive in your life and you can use the 'sent' folder to move tasks to that you've successfully delegated.

If you have a spouse that really wants to make sure that you don't forget to do things on a personal level, such as paying the phone bill, then you can show them how to add tasks to your personal items folder really easily.

What's more, you can even set due dates/times so that an alarm will go off on your iphone (or on your desktop) when an item occurs (such as a meeting you might need to attend, or to get the milk on the way home from work).

Adding/Editing Tasks

Adding tasks on Remember the Milk is specifically designed to be quick and intuitive. For example, when you add a date to a task, just write something like:

•    July 1st, 2011
•    Next Friday
•    Three Weeks
•    25 Hours from Saturday

All of these turn into a specific date that corresponds with the words used. This is pretty clever software – even when in a hurry, you can keep your task lists straight with just a few simple notes.

You can also add tags, an estimated time frame, the location, a URL, and other information that will help you keep the tasks organized. Anyone you share the tasks with will be listed, and you can add notes on a separate tab to ensure you have everything you need to complete the goal.

You can also give each task a priority (1, 2, 3, and none). I highly recommend you do this because you can than view a chart outlining the most important tasks for any given day – it’s like an automated prioritizer. Only have 10 minutes to work on 2 hours’ worth of tasks? Check your charts and see what’s most important.

Another cool thing I really like is the availability of keyboard shortcuts. Web apps frequently ignore just how amazing a QWERTY keyboard can be in cutting down on unnecessary steps. With Remember the Milk, you can customize and speed up a lot of common tasks you enter.

At any given point you can postpone an item or mark it as complete. If you postpone a task, the number of times it is postponed will be listed on the task itself. If any item is due during that day or is overdue, Remember the Milk will automatically bold and underline the tasks to help you notice.

Organizing Across Platforms

In addition to the ability to organize your tasks easily, you can also access these tasks across multiple platforms. Currently the program runs on iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone, Android, Gmail, Outlook, Twitter, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and more. The apps synchronize with the data instantly online, and can be set up to send reminders or push notifications when a task is due.

 

By installing Remember the Milk on ALL of your devices and your computer, you streamline a lot of unnecessary motions. No cross checking your to do lists. No copying and pasting or emailing yourself. No sorting through old lists and trying to remember what you did already. It’s all in one central location and it syncs automatically. Make sure you set it up to work on every device you own – only then can you really tap into its potential. 

Enhancing Productivity

The key value of Remember the Milk is its ease and versatility. By allowing you to send, share, and receive tasks, as well as create your own tasks and access them using a bunch of different platforms, it becomes much easier to manage multiple projects without losing track of any important information.

While there are other ways to manage projects, most of them are pretty limited, use a less intuitive interface, can’t be sent/received, or don’t sync across all your devices. Remember the Milk has all of these features, which means it’s a heck of a way to boost, and better yet, maintain productivity in every aspect of your life.

I hope you enjoyed and gained great value from this post.

As always, I'm keen to hear your comments.

Kind regards,

Mark Ling

58 Comments

View all 58 comments (Currently displaying latest 50)

Mark 13 years ago
Hey Mark
I've seen a ton of productivity tools online and choosing one is kind of a clutter problem unto itself:)

I'll give this one a try
Thanks
Mark
jim 13 years ago
Ok not empty now
Donna Anglin 13 years ago
This looks great! Can't wait to try it. My piles of paper and notes on sticky pads are out of control. I have a difficult time keeping on top of my various to do lists. I've tried the "Tasks" function in Outlook but it just doesn't thrill me. "Remember the Milk" looks fun and useful! I'm hoping to get my whole department using it so we can boost our productivity!
Nitin 13 years ago
Nice tool. I was just about to create this myself. Oh well back to the drawing borad
Peter 13 years ago
Google has calendar, Blackberry has tasks and they all work the same way and do the same.
Cliffrod Koekoek 13 years ago
Thank you for the article and advice. I'll give it a shot. Enjoy yur day.

Clifford
Eryn from 3-60 13 years ago
Going to download it now. Just read 7 habits of highly effective people and I have been looking for some kind of task management tool that would work with the 7 habits approach to scheduling. I will also grab a copy of Getting Things Done after your recommendation.

Great blog.
JBN 13 years ago
Thanks Mark,
Productivity helps are always wanted. Thanks for the great tip! If there was 26 hours in a day...
Best,
JB
Patrick Giffen 13 years ago
Thank You Mark... This is another tool that I have to implement right away that can help me stay focused and on track to perform at my best in my personal and professional life! I am glad I am on your list so I can have heads up on programs like this one (I never would know this is out there without your help). Thanks again...
Patrick in Anaheim, California, USA
Stan Rosen 13 years ago
Hi Mark and Affilorama Team,

Remeber the Milk sounds like a solutionj to a very important problem. If we clutter ourselves withy no organization, we are lick before we start. As it is , it is monumental.But, if I might add, the brain can only take so much, even with organization , we must de-stress by taking a step back until we are calm and can create. If we can't create and make appropriate choices. Well, we might as well close shop, and that is what most online marketers do. I guess I'm so far a real stubborn ninnie.

I would like to make a suggestion, I use Reminder Fox addon. it's free and you can organize your self with it. You may want to take a look for comparison. I'll do the same with your suggestion.

Thanks so much for caring. I hope you are all well in New Zealand!

Stan Rosen
rstan10 @gmail.com

PS. I took my first crack at a Blogger Website Blog. It's not perfect but it's finally up. If you want to take a peak, it's, www.thedietsolootionprogram.com. Hope you like it. Your positive nature helpped me to pursue this crazy business.
Tauheed Khan 13 years ago
Thanks for sharing Mark... I have been looking for something like that for a while. It will surely make my life easier.
Ron Schmidli 13 years ago
Great article Mark, a look at our available time from a different set of eyes. Keep up the great views.

Sincerely; Ron Schmidli USA
Steve 13 years ago
Hi

Thanks for the heads up I'd seen the program a year ot two back and meant to look at it again!

SO ive signed up today its looks great

once again thanks

BTW I cant see a link to their site !

regards

Kathy 13 years ago
Thank you Mark, This is exactly what I have been looking for for a long time now. I am most certainly going to use this right away
Thanks again
Kathy
Sohan 13 years ago
Really helpful tips from Mark. I have been getting Marks email for long time and every time he comes with something very helpful and productive. I already signed up for the Remember the Milk. Lets see how it works. I was looking for something like this for long time.
Scott Bobyk 13 years ago
Great post Mark. This is definitely one of the things I struggle with most. Getting done the million and one things floating around in my head that need to get done. Most organizational programs I've used didn't work the way I needed them to. I look forward to giving this one a try.

Cheers,
Scottay
Mark Ling 13 years ago
Thanks for the positive comments guys, I think it's a fantastic application, there are other similar tools out there, however I like this one because it's easy to use, cleanly organized, fits in well with 'getting things done methodology' and it's fantastic that it's syncronized across platforms (ie pc, mac, iphone, ipad, etc).

Whatever tool you use, the key really is to use it in a fashion that is similar to 'Getting things done' methodology, if you guys haven't bought that book, it's only about $10 on amazon. I highly recommend it.
Mark Ling 13 years ago
To-do lists in of themselves aren't effective. They are ok, but they work much better when you work through them quickly with a 'do it', 'delegate it', 'delete it', 'defer it' methodology. And when other ideas come across your mind, rather than let them distract you, you put them in an 'ideas' folder for later. In remember the milk, you can easily create an extra folder for this.

I should have also mentioned, it helps if you only have 1 or 2 times per day set aside for checking and answering emails. If you only have 1 or 2 hours a day to work on affiliate marketing, then don't check your emails until the end of that time.
Jeff Davies 13 years ago
Nice one Mark. I am the worlds worst for organising myself and keeping track of what I am doing. I hope this helps.
Diane 13 years ago
Hi Mark
This could well be my saving grace as I am the lists and pieces of paper person. I've tried putting them into notebooks, but then I miss place them, or start a new list in another book. I find these ideas very appealing, especially when I have to organise right across the board for my business, from sales, marketing ideas, my website, my new product ranges say for Christmas or Father's Day, right through to doing my GST and my annual accounts. My head really does float, so if I implement this system, I know that this will free up a lot of "brain space" and I'm sure that I can be far more productive.

Thanks Mark, I look forward to working with this to make my life more simple.
Dean 13 years ago
Is this a free app, where is the link? Thanks.
David Withington 13 years ago
Just installed it on the iPad. I like its ability to sync. Another useful app is Evernote. With that, I can send a note even by email and it's sync'd to all the devices, so never gets overlooked. The notes can be as long as you like. How we rely on our apps to organise our life....
Shaun 13 years ago
Mark this is awesome. I am a fan of David Allens GTD method also. I have read his book and watched a DVD about the method and I use it regularly for my personal and professional life. I have been using a paid piece of software called Omnifocus which is based around GTD but it's only available for the Mac and you have to pay for the software on the Mac and then separately on the Iphone or Ipad if you want them on there too.
Great find here thanks a lot.

Shaun
Auckland
Orestes 13 years ago
Hi! Mark,

Thanks for the tool for sure it will help me a lot as I myself have big problem with getting things done when I have to.

Thanks again!
13 years ago
Thank you! This is exacly what I need! I easily get distracted with all the "shiny new objects" on the internet and need to manage my time more efficiently.
Sammy 13 years ago
Where is the link to download the milk?
Wyman 13 years ago
I am going to try this as a communication tool for masterminds. I love the name.
Troy 13 years ago
Great Tool Mark..thx for posting it.
It costs $25 to have the app on your phone etc.. and free on your PC.
But if you find it increasingly impossible to organize your busy life..then this is well worth it.
Especially the fact that you can sync with other tools and devices. This can help husbands and wives and families to all be on the same page when it comes to schedules.
JC Dean 13 years ago
Oh, wow it's because of the open loops in my head,
I thought I was slow because of the crazy things I did in my teens.

Anyway i don't think I have ever read a more useful blog post.
Carlos Akira Higuti 13 years ago
Hello, Mark! I am a beginner in marketing, and found it very
Interestingly, Remember the Milk. I'll put it into practice
now, so you can combine my studies with
Affiblueprint, and keep them well organized with other
tasks.
Thank you for sharing!
Monja 13 years ago
hi mark, great post. i´ll try to implement your suggestions and will definitely try out the apps. my ways to more productivity were far less funky so far - paper, add stuff I want to get done, mark from high to low priority, start with highest and work through. ;-)
Marianne Kadunc 13 years ago
Hello Mark & the gang,
Again, you have provided your fellow Affiloramarians with a really useful tool. Thank you for taking the time to save us some! Remember The Milk is practical and easy to use.
Best wishes & thanks
Marianne
Sydney, Australia
MAX TURNER 13 years ago
Hey Mark
Everyone who starts out on their own with affiliate needs some form of organisation doing tasks especially when you have to do most of it yourself. This software certainly seems to solve that problem.
Thankyou for the heads up.
Best Regards
MaxwellT
Stella Francis 13 years ago
I am go'in to download and free myself from pen and paper.

Stella
Kathy 13 years ago
Thanks again, Mark. I plan to put this to use right away. I have gotten a bit distracted recently, and it definitely shows in how I have neglected the really important tasks. Maybe this will help me to get back on track.

Much appreciated post.

Kathy Adams
Treadmill 13 years ago
it's the exact info. i need,many thanks!
Chuck 13 years ago
Thanks Mark for the post and this very useful tool. I'm going to get it set up now because Im tired of going around in circles, getting distracted and not getting my work (the important stuff) acomplished. I was just thinking about needing to do something different and get organized. This sounds like it might just work.
Shay Jordan 13 years ago
Good post! This definitely reminded me of organization and that is what I will be working on this week is getting my life simplified and organized :)
Jeff Cutts 13 years ago
Hi there Mark,
Well I feel as if you are looking over my shoulder, I am generally so disorganised that I literally run out of time to complete all I want in a day, so I do feel The Milk will really help me to get back on track.
Once back on track I will be able to fulfill my retirement wishes and live the life I want.
Many thanks Jeff
Patrick Sekhoto 13 years ago
Hi: Mark
Thanks for sharing these remember the Milk tactics.
they are very useful as everyone only 24Hours in a day, and tools like this will definetly help
me as I find it so hard and overwhelm by all the to do list.
I hope from now on I will get more to be done.
Thanks Again for sharing.
From:Patrick Sekhoto
yoyo 13 years ago
great info .... thanks i think it is interesting...remember the milk
Ian Dumphreys 13 years ago
Thanks Mark,

Great post, it is so easy to get side tracked and this software will help especially if you have it installed on all your equipement... No getting away from it...Thanks for sharing
Susan 13 years ago
Love this little bit of software Mark. We have been using an App on our iphones called TeuxDeuX if you want to check it out. Thanks again for sharing some great ideas. Chris & Susan
Makemoney 13 years ago
I started using Google Chrome just the other day and actually found out about remember the milk throught that process. An awesome product. Thanks Mark
James 13 years ago
I'm also looking for the download link!
Mark Ling 13 years ago
@James it's at http://www.rememberthemilk.com

The iphone/ipad/ipod app if you prefer that is in the app store, just search for 'remember the milk'.
princessp 13 years ago
Thanks Mark..great post, as always:) Will be really useful for my husband also!
Sicelo Leslie Didiza 13 years ago
It sounds fascinating where can I download to try it?
13 years ago
Remembering Milk sounds fantastic and is exactly what I need! You are so right about our brains working slower when we have lots on our mind!Your focus gets so thinly spread across all these things that nothing really gets the attention it deserves!

I will definitely be having a look!Thanks :)

www.success-mindsets.com
Janice Womack 13 years ago
Mark,

Great idea. Looks good. I am awful at starting to do list then never finishing them. I know I have 50 books for to do list to go on. Now I can put this on my computer.

Again, thanks a bunch.

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