366 lines
13 KiB
Org Mode
366 lines
13 KiB
Org Mode
:PROPERTIES:
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:ID: 21c48431-c0db-4a34-95fe-7228fea6233f
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:END:
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#+TITLE: How I use org-mode
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#+AUTHOR: Yann Esposito
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#+EMAIL: yann@esposito.host
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#+DATE: [2019-09-30 Mon]
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#+KEYWORDS: org-mode
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#+DESCRIPTION: How I use org-mode
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#+OPTIONS: auto-id:t toc:t
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#+begin_abstract
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In this article I'll try to give an overview of my current use of [[https://orgmode.org][org mode]].
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I use org mode for:
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- tasks management & time tracking
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- writing documents (articles, book, etc...)
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- note taking ; which I consider slightly different from just writing documents
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#+end_abstract
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In this article I would like to share a tool that was a real life changer
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to me: [[http://orgmode.org][org mode]].
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I use it for a few years now.
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And for me emacs is worth learning just for org-mode.
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This is by far the best solution I ever used to manage my tasks.
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More than that, the solution is so versatile that the power is decupled by
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all the plugins, tools, libs that work around org-mode.
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Also the tool will adapt to your very specific needs.
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Mainly the major problem I see with most tasks management applications is
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the wrong level of complexity facing the user.
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This is a very hard problem to tackle.
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If your system is too simple, the users will not be able to manage the
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tasks how they would like.
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If your system is too complex, the user will be faced with too much details.
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So most successful systems have a way to adapt their apparent complexity to
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the need of their users.
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And org mode is exactly like that.
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Not only starting with org mode can be extremely simple but also there are
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mostly no complexity limit.
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Whatever your need most of the time there is already an emacs package that
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take cares of that.
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Even if this is not the case, it is easy to write your own.
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Here is the result of a few years of improving my use of org mode.
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Today I can say that org mode is part of my day to day life.
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I still invest a bit of time to improve minor details of my workflow time
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to time.
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But now my daily workflow is mostly stable.
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So I think I can share it.
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** Overview
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:PROPERTIES:
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:CUSTOM_ID: overview
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:END:
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*** daily routine
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:PROPERTIES:
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:CUSTOM_ID: daily-routine
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:END:
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The first thing I do in the morning is to open =org-agenda= view for today.
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It shows me the tasks planned for today.
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What are urgent tasks, deadlines, tasks that have deadlines in a few days, etc...
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I also have a glimpse of my habits, tasks that I should start at some hour
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in the day, etc...
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I then start to track (/clock/) the tasks I'm currently working on.
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Often during the day, I need to create new tasks.
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Most of the time I create a task and I add either a deadline or a schedule
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date.
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Sometime I also need to deal with interruptions.
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In that case, I /capture/ the interruption that will also create a new task
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being clocked.
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At the end of the day, every tasks I worked on are saved in a =tracker.org=
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file.
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That file look like a date tree.
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And I generally generate a /report/ that tell me how much hours I worked
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today.
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Some tasks are tagged =work=.
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The report filter only on the =work= tagged tasks.
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Also I have some repeating tasks like review memory cards using a spaced
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repetition plugin.
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I start it, and it shows me a few =cards= with questions that I review.
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So mainly those cards contain info I want to keep in my mind and not only
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in my notes.
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*** document writing
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:PROPERTIES:
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:CUSTOM_ID: document-writing
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:END:
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Writing documents with org mode and in particular technical document is
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just incredible.
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So at first writing document with org mode is a lot like writing markdown.
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Neat, there are a few minor differences.
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The org mode format is not only intended to be exported to HTML only so
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there are a few differences.
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Where org mode shine is with the use of *org-babel*.
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Mainly you can write code that will make real HTTP call, execute real
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functions in the language of your choice.
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I wrote most part of an OAuth2 provider in Clojure.
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And to generate a documentation for our users it is very nice to provide
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the full HTTP request along the response.
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But I also often need to play a few tricks in the doc and directly use our
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Clojure code to generate JWT for example.
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The great part is the ability to use those JWT generated from Clojure code
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in the following code block making HTTP call.
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That plus the natural ability to fold/unfold the tree structure of the org
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mode file is great.
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*** note taking
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:PROPERTIES:
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:CUSTOM_ID: note-taking
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:END:
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Time to time, I need to really take the time write note on a technical
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subject or sometime about articles I read about anything.
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For that I use [[https://github.com/org-roam/org-roam][org roam]].
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I only started to use it a few months ago.
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But this is a great addition to my previous workflow that used =deft= (that
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I still use).
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But I must say, this is pretty perfect as a note taking app.
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Mainly you capture notes quite easily and put links about the subject, but
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also tags.
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In the end that generate a graph of notes that you could use later to dig
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into your own notes.
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*** journaling
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:PROPERTIES:
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:CUSTOM_ID: journaling
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:END:
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Along with note taking.
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I also try to write a journal note everyday.
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For that I use org-journal (another org mode related package).
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I have a default template which take care of a few metrics I want to focus on.
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And I guess it is different for anyone of us.
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** Task Management
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:PROPERTIES:
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:CUSTOM_ID: task-management
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:END:
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*** Workflow 1; planned tasks : org-agenda + clock
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:PROPERTIES:
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:CUSTOM_ID: worfklow-1--planned-tasks---org-agenda---clock
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:END:
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1. look at the current tasks planned for today
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2. select a task, clock it
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3. work on the task
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4. back to the task and clock it out.
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I work most of my using emacs[fn:emacs-digression].
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Generally the first thing I do in the morning is opening `org-calendar`.
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It looks like this:
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#+ATTR_ORG: :width 400
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#+CAPTION: Org super calendar view
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#+NAME: fig:org-super-agenda
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[[./img/org-super-agenda.png]]
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Pretty brutalist interface which is a great thing to me.
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Distraction free interface going to the essential.
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With this view, I see what I planned to do today.
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I also see a few "Due Soon" tasks in case I have the time to handle those.
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When I start working on a task I start a clock on it (I simply type =I=
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when my cursor is on the TODO line).
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When I finished some task I change its status from TODO to something else.
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Mainly I'm prompted when doing so:
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#+BEGIN_SRC
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{ [t] TODO [p] IN-PROGRESS [h] HOLD [w] WAITING
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[d] DONE [c] CANCELLED [l] HANDLED }
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#+END_SRC
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And that's it.
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The time spent on the task as been clocked I can work on another task.
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Looking at the agenda view you could notice habits.
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They start to become green when you are doing them correctly.
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But generally, I don't use much direct clocking from the agenda.
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Most of the time I prefer the capture mechanism.
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Which bring us to "Workflow 2".
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*** Workflow 2: Tracking; org-capture
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:PROPERTIES:
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:CUSTOM_ID: workflow-2--org-capture-org-refile
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:END:
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Most of the tasks I perform on the day are not planned.
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I have a generic routine + some prepared events and tasks to performs.
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But during the day you have multiple interruptions, and part of my job is
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to write code reviews too.
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I cannot plan those.
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In that case I use =org-capture= along =org-refile=.
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Mainly =org-capture= helps you create a new TODO entry.
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And =org-refile= will help you move that TODO entry to the correct place.
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So let say I get a direct message in the chat asking me to do something.
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I generally start org capture (for me it's =SPC X=).
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I am presented with the following choice:
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#+BEGIN_SRC
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Select a capture template
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=========================
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[t] todo
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[c] chat
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[e] email
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[m] meeting
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[p] pause
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[r] review
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[w] work
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[i] interruption
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[f] chore
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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[q] Abort
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#+END_SRC
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In my example it was a chat interruption.
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So I type =i= that presents me with this
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#+BEGIN_SRC
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**** IN-PROGRESS | :interruption:
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:LOGBOOK:
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[2020-09-23 Wed 08:01]
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ref :: [link-to-where-I-was-in-emacs-when-captured]
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#+END_SRC
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My cursor placed where the =|= is displayed.
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Here I add the tag =chat= and a small description, "dm from John about X" for example.
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Then I type =C-c C-c= and the TODO is placed in a =tracker.org= file under
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a date tree that looks like this:
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#+BEGIN_SRC org-mode
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* 2020
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** 2020-W39
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*** 2020-09-21 Monday
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*** 2020-09-22 Tuesday
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*** 2020-09-23 Wednesday
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**** IN-PROGRESS Chat with John about X :interruption:chat:
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:LOGBOOK:
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:END:
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[2020-09-23 Wed 17:58]
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ref ::
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...
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#+END_SRC
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So the clock for this task started at the moment at made the capture.
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In my workflow, I prefer to finish the capture and stop clock later.
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So after I finished the capture, the clock is still running while the task
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is put in my tracker file.
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Once I finished with that task.
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I can:
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1. Jump to the tasks with =SPC n o= (=org-clock-goto=), and stop the
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clock =SPC m c o= (=clock-out=).
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2. Jump to the task and change its status to =DONE= which will stop the clock.
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3. Capture another tasks which will stop the clock on the current task and
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will start on the new one.
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By the end of the day, my tracker file will contain a date tree with all
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the tasks I done in the day.
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All tasks nicely clocked.
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I generally create a clock report that look like this:
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#+BEGIN_SRC
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#+BEGIN: clocktable :scope subtree :maxlevel 4 :timestamp t
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#+CAPTION: Clock summary at [2020-09-23 Wed 08:20]
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| Timestamp | Headline | Time | | | |
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|------------------------+------------------------------------------------+--------+---+------+------|
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| | *Total time* | *6:40* | | | |
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|------------------------+------------------------------------------------+--------+---+------+------|
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| | \_ 2020-09-21 Monday | | | 7:40 | |
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| [2020-09-21 Mon 08:54] | \_ check chat | | | | 0:36 |
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| [2020-09-21 Mon 09:30] | \_ check reviews | | | | 0:41 |
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| [2020-09-21 Mon 10:11] | \_ check emails | | | | 0:07 |
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| [2020-09-21 Mon 10:37] | \_ review PR about xxx | | | | 0:44 |
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| [2020-09-21 Mon 11:21] | \_ update my PR from feedbacks | | | | 0:36 |
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| [2020-09-21 Mon 12:08] | \_ review John's PR about Foo | | | | 0:12 |
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| [2020-09-21 Mon 13:41] | \_ review M's PR about Bar | | | | 0:11 |
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| [2020-09-21 Mon 13:53] | \_ another thing | | | | 0:16 |
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| [2020-09-21 Mon 14:09] | \_ review PR | | | | 0:51 |
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| [2020-09-21 Mon 15:00] | \_ work on PR | | | | 1:30 |
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| [2020-09-21 Mon 16:49] | \_ check another PR | | | | 0:33 |
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| [2020-09-21 Mon 17:03] | \_ answer email | | | | 0:55 |
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| [2020-09-21 Mon 17:58] | \_ Chat John about X | | | | 0:28 |
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#+END_SRC
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And that's mostly it for TODOs and tasks handling.
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*** Workflow 3: Add new tasks; org-capture / org-refile
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:PROPERTIES:
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:CUSTOM_ID: workflow-3--org-capture---org-refile
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:END:
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Another thing I do quite often.
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I need to add new task to be done.
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Be it for today or another day.
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In that case, I generally use org-capture again.
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This time I choose =t= for TODO and I generally detail the task to be done.
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I add either a SCHEDULE (when I plan to start) or a DEADLINE (when this
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must be finished) and I refile it.
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So refile will start a fuzzy search to put this task under some subtree.
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So instead of going to my =tracker.org= file, this goes to my =inbox.org=
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file.
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And it will appear in my agenda.
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** Footnotes
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:PROPERTIES:
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:CUSTOM_ID: footnotes
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:END:
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[fn:emacs-digression]
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/Short digression/:
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Historically, I coded using different IDEs.
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Then I worked for a company that forced me to use terrible keyboards and
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after just a few weeks I started to have serious wrist issues.
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So to minimize that pain I switched to vim.
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And it was /awesome/.
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Once you're use to the power of vim keybinding forever your soul will bound
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to them.
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So learning vim is a bit like learning a new music instrument.
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You need to construct some muscle memory and integrate one after one new
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tricks.
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Once learned your personal editing power start to become overwhelming.
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After a few years of vim, I wanted to try to explore new editor tooling.
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So I switched to emacs using the spacemacs distribution.
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So mainly it's vim but with even better keybindgs, helpers and within
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emacs.
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The main reason for the switch was that vimscript is a really bad language
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to configure your editor.
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Emacs use emacs-LISP.
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For editor customization a LISP looked perfect to me.
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LISP is still one of the most powerful and easy to use programming language
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to date.
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And recently, as my personal configuration started to grow so much I
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switched to [[https://github.com/hlissner/doom-emacs][doom-emacs]].
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I was quite hesitant to do the switch but so far its been a pleasure.
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IMHO using [[https://github.com/hlissner/doom-emacs][doom-emacs]] is a lot better than using my own personal
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configuration from scratch because I wouldn't be able to end up with so
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much configuration quality.
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