Tips & Tricks Tuesday: Multitasking while watching TV

Often in the evenings, you may want to relax in front of the TV or get some small things done. This week’s tip, shared by scave31, offers a way to have your cake and eat it too: get some things done while still enjoying some downtime.

I’m new to Remember The Milk, but within days saw how I could really use it to my advantage.

One of the first tags I created was #evening, which I use to tag tasks that include anything from cleaning a closet or going through magazines to sorting tax receipts - things that can’t be done at work or I don’t want to do on weekends when I can do bigger projects.

(Most items under the #evening tag don’t have due dates, unless I see a need to do the task soon, at which time I’ll add one.)

I quickly saw where I could add to this: I watch TV a couple evenings a week and need to be doing something else simultaneously, but often find myself surfing the ‘net and then realizing later that stack of magazines is still sitting in the corner.

So, I created tags called #tv and #notv to add to my #evening tasks based on whether I can do them in front of the television without missing the show (like sewing on a button or sorting tax receipts) or whether I need to do them in a different room or they would require enough concentration that I’d miss the show (like cleaning my home office desk or reading RSS feeds with heavy articles).

I also set up a repeat “after” recurrence for things I don’t want to do too often, such as cleaning out my e-mail inbox, to keep me from choosing the same tasks over and over again.

With a Smart List (or two), I created badges on my Android phone for items tagged #evening AND #tv or #evening and #notv, called the lists ETV and ENOTV, respectively, and can quickly access what tasks I can get done depending on what my evening television plans are.

I’ve achieved so much in just a week!

Thanks for sharing this tip, scave31! You’re our Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner this week.

Do you have a suggestion for our weekly Tips & Tricks post? Got an interesting set-up or idea? Head over to the Tips & Tricks forum, add a new topic, and let us know how you use Remember The Milk. Each week we’ll give away a 1 year Pro account to the user whose idea inspires the Tips & Tricks Tuesday blog post for that week.