If you are anything like me you find that maintaining an organized to-do list is essential to being productive. I’ve tried many of the programs currently available, but I’ve settled on using Emacs with Org-Mode to keep track of most of what I need to get done. Emacs is a very powerful free text editor that is highly customizable, and since version 22 has Org-Mode built in. Org-mode for Emacs allows you to quickly create outlines, mark items as “TODO”, set deadlines, and assign tags to specific tasks. One big benefit of using Emacs with Org-Mode is that the file you create is saved as plain text, which means you will be able to open it in any text editor to make changes. Org-Mode also has a mobile app for iOS and Android which allows you to sync you todo lists with your mobile phone and edit them on the go!

Emacs can be a powerful tool in organizing your life, but it can be a little intimidating if you are just getting started. I hope that this tutorial shows you that with only a few simple commands you can easily organize your thoughts and keep track of everything you need to do. You don’t need to know Emacs inside and out to take advantage of Org-Mode, and even if you only use Emacs to manage your to-do list, I think you will find that the time you spent learning the program is a worth wile investment.

Show Notes:

Emacs

Download Emacs for your platform of choice.

Documentation

Installing Emacs 24 in Ubuntu 14.04

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sudo apt-get install emacs

Org-Mode

Org-Mode comes pre-installed by default in Emacs 22 and later. You can also download the latest version, and add it to emacs separately.

Documentation

Keyboard Shortcuts Used:

The following abbreviations are used to represent keys on your keyboard:

• “C” –> Ctrl
• “M” –> Alt (or Command on a Mac)
• “S” –> Shift
• “C-c” –> Holding down Ctrl while pressing the letter c

The creators of Org-Mode have put together a handy Reference Card of all the keyboard shortcuts. There are many more listed on the Reference Card than were covered in this tutorial. Below are the keyboard shortcuts shown in this video.

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M-Enter # Create new bullet Point

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M-RightArrow # Indent Bullet Point

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M-UpArrow # Move Bullet Point Up

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M-DownArrow # Move Bullet Point Down

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Tab # Show/Hide Items for Bullet Point

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S-Tab # Cycle Visibility of Indentation Levels

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C-c # add Tag to Bullet Point

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S-RightArrow # Mark Bullet Point as TODO

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C-c C-d # Set Deadline for TODO item

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C-c [ # Add File to Agenda

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M-x org-agenda # List Available Agenda Views