Ask HN: How to track inputs from other people | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How to track inputs from other people

4 pointshelloworlddd7 comments

If you're working on something that requires inputs from other people, how do you keep track of their input. If I'm waiting for something for longer than a day, I'm prone to just forgetting about it. It seems strange putting it on my todo list if it's something I don't actually need to do.

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I absolutely add it to my task list, in one of these ways:

- WFR (waiting for response/reply (from)) {person} re {subject}

- FUO (follow up on) {subject}

Or, if I first have to do a task, then get a response, I surround the task in parentheses instead of crossing it out to indicate that I did it but I'm waiting for something else to happen (usually for someone to call back or something). For example, if my task is "call helloworlddd", and I do, but you're not home and I leave a voicemail, then

- call helloworlddd

becomes

- (call helloworlddd)

and when you finally call back I cross the task off.

I keep separate lists of actionable and not-yet-actionable to-dos. I check the latter daily to update the former.

If I’m waiting for input from someone, I immediately create a future to-do that’s of the form of either “do stuff with input received from X” or “follow up with X if I haven’t received their input on Y”.

Their actual input can be either attached to the to-do on receipt, searched up in email/slack/meeting notes/etc as needed, or entered in a notetaking app on receipt — depending on what my current getting stuff done stack looks like.

If it "requires" input, it's something you need to do by definition. Use a todo list or kanban (Obsidian has this) or in a calendar.

In a professional context, tell your boss that you can't and won't work without the required information. Or improvise with fake/mock data.

Good point it being something you need to do. I will just add it to my todo list. If you can't progress with your work until you have the input, is there a good way of chasing it up when dealing with someone unreliable but senior?

If I have an active thread in Gmail and I'm waiting on a response I find it useful to snooze the thread so it reappears in my inbox either with a response or after the snooze time has elapsed.

I do this or emails I want a response to and know the person is busy. I don't use threaded emails, though, so I bcc myself on the email I send and snooze that instead.

Schedule a follow-up ping right in the messaging app.

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