correl.github.io/_drafts/getting-organized-with-org-mode.org

#+TITLE: Getting Organized with Org Mode
#+AUTHOR: Correl Roush
#+STARTUP: indent
#+OPTIONS: toc:nil num:nil

* Project Management
I've been using Emacs Org mode for nearly a year now, mostly as a
tool for breaking down large projects at work into tasks and
subtasks, and found it to be extremely enter projects in as a
hierarchy of tasks and task groupings. Using columnview, I was able
to dive right into scoping them individually and reporting total
estimates for each major segment of work. Because Emacs and Org
Mode make building and modifying an outline structure like this so
quick and easy, I'd build and modify the project org document as I
planned it out with my team. Once done, I'd then manually load that
information into our issue tracker and get underway.
* Organizing Notes and Code Exercises
More recently, I've been looking into various ways to get more
things organized with Org mode. I've been stepping through
[[http://sarabander.github.io/sicp/][Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs]] with some other
folks from work, and discovered that Org mode was an ideal fit for
keeping my notes and exercise work together. The latter is neatly
managed by [[http://orgmode.org/worg/org-contrib/babel/intro.html][Babel]], which let me embed and edit source examples and
my excercise solutions right in the org document itself, and even
export them to one or more scheme files to load into my
interpreter.
* Exporting and Publishing Documents
Publishing my notes with org is also a breeze. I've published
project plans and proposals to PDF to share with colleagues, and
exported my SICP notes to html and dropped them into a site built
with [[http://jekyllrb.com/][Jekyll]]. Embedding graphs and diagrams into exported documents
using [[http://www.graphviz.org/][Graphviz]], [[http://www.mcternan.me.uk/mscgen/][Mscgen]], and [[http://plantuml.sourceforge.net/][PlantUML]] has also really helped with
putting together some great project plans and documentation.
* Emacs Configuration
While learning all the cool things I could do with Org mode and
Babel, it was only natural I'd end up using it to reorganize my
Emacs configuration. Up until that point, I'd been managing my
configuration in a single init.el file, plus a directory full of
mode or purpose-specific elisp files that I'd loop through and
load. Inspired primarily by the blog post, [[http://zeekat.nl/articles/making-emacs-work-for-me.html]["Making Emacs Work For
Me"]], and later by others such as [[http://pages.sachachua.com/.emacs.d/Sacha.html][Sacha Chua's Emacs configuration]],
I got all my configs neatly organized into a single org file that
gets loaded on startup. I've found it makes it far easier to keep
track of what I've got configured, and gives me a reason to
document and organize things neatly now that it's living a double
life as a [[https://github.com/correl/dotfiles/blob/master/.emacs.d/emacs.org][published document]] on GitHub.
* Tracking Habits
Another great feature of Org mode that I've been taking advantage
of a lot more lately is the [[http://orgmode.org/manual/Agenda-Views.html][Agenda]]. By defining some org files as
being agenda files, Org mode can examine these files for TODO
entries, scheduled tasks, deadlines and more to build out useful
agenda views to get a quick handle on what needs to be done and
when. While at first I started by simply syncing down my google
calendars as org-files (using [[http://orgmode.org/worg/code/awk/ical2org.awk][icadl2org.awk]]), I've started
managing TODO lists in a dedicated org file. By adding tasks to
this file, scheduling them, and setting deadlines, I've been doing
a much better job of keeping track of things I need to get done
and (even more importantly) /when/ I need to get them done.

This works not only for one-shot tasks, but also [[http://orgmode.org/manual/Tracking-your-habits.html][habits and other
repetitive tasks]]. It's possible to schedule a task that should be
done every day, every few days, or maybe every first sunday of a
month. For example, I've set up repeating tasks to write a blog
post at least once a month, practice guitar every two to three
days, and to do the dishes every one or two days. The agenda view
can even show a small, colorized graph next to each repeating task
that paints a picture of how well (or not!) I've been getting
those tasks done on time.
* Keeping a Journal and Tracking Work
The last thing I've been using (which I'm still getting a handle
on) is using [[http://orgmode.org/manual/Capture.html][Capture]] to take and store notes, keep a journal, and
even [[http://orgmode.org/manual/Clocking-work-time.html][track time on tasks at work]].

For my journal, I've configured a capture template that I can use
to write down a new entry that will be stored with a time stamp
appended into its own org file, organized under headlines by year,
month and date.

For work tasks, I have another capture template configured that
will log and tag a task into another org file, also organized by
date, which will automatically start tracking time for that
task. Once done, I can simply clock out and check the time I've
spent, and can easily find it later to clock in again, add notes,
or update its status. This helps me keep track of what I've gotten
done during the day, keep notes on what I was doing at any point
in time, and get a better idea of how long it takes me to do
different types of tasks.
* Conclusion
There's a lot that can be done with Org mode, and I've only just
scratched the surface. The simple outline format provided by Org
mode lends itself to doing all sorts of things, be it organizing
notes, keeping a private or work journal, or writing a book or
technical document. There's tons of functionality that can be
built on top of it, yet the underlying format itself remains
simple and easy to work with. I've never been great at keeping
myself organized, but Org mode is such a delight to use that I
can't help trying anyway. If it can work for me, maybe it can work
for you, too :)