What I've Learned Using Complice

I found a new (to me) productivity tool called Complice while reading Ben Kuhn's blog. I'm finding it both powerful and encouraging. I've used to do lists apps, written my own lists, and tried organizing my daily tasks and projects before. None were this satisfying or effective.

Goals

My favorite feature of Complice so far is the way that goals are woven throughout the app. It helps me take a long term perspective while focusing on the most immediate actions I can take toward important but not urgent tasks that are so easy to put off.

Reviews

Reviews are another great feature. Each day, week, month and year the app prompts me with a series of (customizable) questions for goal to reflect on what I've learned, if what I'm doing is going to get me to the goal, and what I can improve.

Staleness

Finally, Complice and one of it's founders Malcolm Ocean introduced me to the idea of staleness. I've often fought with enormous demoralizing task lists - I painstakingly compile them and then stop updating the backlog. When task lists build up, and don't get done the items become irrelevant ant out of date. That's staleness. It's a burden to manage and organize. Long stale lists slow my thinking every time I look at them. Complice avoids this problem by only allowing me to plan for the next priority for each goal. Each day I enter the tasks or intentions that I'll do towards them. For long term planning out into the future I could use another app. Complice is for my goals and today's work towards them.

Wrap up

There are a lot more features to Complice but that's what I'm finding most exciting right now. I'm taking action towards goals that I've put off in the past and Complice deserves some of the credit for that by keeping those goals alive in my awareness each day.