todo.md

Here's a super simple, low cost pattern for keeping track of multiple solo projects: just add a todo.md file at the root of each repo.

Software development is usually done in a team that wants to be aware of project status. Project management software (ClickUp, Trello, Jira, GitHub Issues etc.) usually satisfies this well enough.

However, when working on solo projects, I've found that the overhead of project management software results in me not using it. At the same time, I often find myself getting lost in my repos. I frequently ask myself: "What did I want to do next for this project?"

Solution

Add and commit a todo.md file at the root of each repo. Add items to a list when you think of them, delete them from the list when they're finished.

An extra benefit of this solution is that it's right alongside the code that it's describing.

Here's an example from one of my existing projects. You'll see that I've split the list by "todo" and "in progress", but that is not necessary.

# todo

-   features
    -   build easy authentication system
-   testing
    -   try on a real database schema
    -   setup automated integration testing

# in progress

-   enable per-request data restrictions

This isn't a good idea for large teams or teams with non-dev members. It's not a good idea either for open source projects with multiple collaborators.