Matthew Lang

Not a month goes by now without criticism of Twitter and it's walled garden network.

I really don’t like that we are all putting our content, including those golden joke tweets, into someone else’s silo. You’re giving Twitter full control over all of your content. That’s a huge price to pay for the exposure, especially in the light of the fact that there are user-controlled alternatives.

— Let’s replace Twitter with something much better by Charl Botha

I don't think Twitter needs to be replaced, but it certainly needs to be improved and Twitter is actively doing that. It's a long-term goal so we the people should be patient.

So, should we replace Twitter? I don't think so.

While I agree that Twitter isn't considered an open part of the Internet, you only have to sacrifice a few privileges to use it. I say a few privileges because you can still create and run your own blog and focus on hosting your more premium content there rather than on Twitter.

Twitter is many things to many people, but if you're a blogger it should be thought of as a delivery platform for your blog. Share your blogs posts on Twitter and have people come to your blog to read the rest of your content.

Twitter doesn't need to be replaced it just needs to be used in a way that makes your life easier.

The Rogue One movie is coming out soon and so is the last expansion pack for Star Wars Battlefront.

For the first time an expansion pack will feature content not from the original trilogy. Of course Rogue One is set just before the beginning of A New Hope so it's as close as you'll get to the original trilogy.

Star Wars Battlefront has been a real joy to play over the last year. Enough game play variety to keep you interested, great graphics and source, and lastly of course it's Star Wars.

Games like this don't come along very often but when they do you find yourself playing for hours at a time. Great fun. I can't wait for the new expansion pack to come out.

via Electronic Arts

A few weeks ago I decided to take the plunge and stop using Todoist as my task manager. As you know I'm a big fan of Todoist and it wasn't easy making that decision. My frustrations came from the fact that I needed something more intentional than another app on my phone, another task list in the ether of the Internet. I need something that requires a bit more work to manage than just bashing in a few words with my keyboard or frantically clicking my mouse.

CJ Chilvers' post about ditching your to do list had been on my mind for a few days before making the decision to stop using Todoist.

I've slowly become a convert to the idea that we need to concentrate on our calendars a whole lot more to achieve what we want in work and life. If you want it done, it must be scheduled. If it's not scheduled, it's just another item on your wishlist that will never be completed.

— Kill Your To Do List by CJ Chilvers

Investing time in the task manager isn't the priority, it's investing the time in the calendar that makes the difference.

So, do I need Todoist? Well, I've been without it for over a month now and I'm still working, still busy and still making an income. Clearly working from your calendar is a good thing.

However, that leaves me without some form of tracking and managing tasks. I wanted something that didn't have me sitting on my phone first thing in the morning, something that required a bit more effort to use and finally something that I could just pick up and start using regardless of where I am.

I've been using pocket notebooks to capture stuff through the day like notes, messages, tasks, ideas, books to read and so on. Being able to stop, write, and then carry on working gives me a little break from the screen through the day but it also got me thinking about using more notebooks to manage my tasks.

I might have killed my to do list on Todoist, but I still needed some form of task management. And that's what this week's posts are about. So tune in tomorrow for the first post on the humble pocket notebook.