Step-By-Step To Done
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Tips & Tricks

  1. Capture everything, organize later. Use the Inbox collection to quickly jot down ideas, then process them during your Daily Review. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good—just get it into the system.

  2. Use AI as a brainstorming partner. Even if you plan to heavily edit the generated steps, AI trail map generation is a great way to overcome the “blank page” problem. Let AI give you a starting point, then customize.

  3. Keep Trail Maps focused. If a project has more than 30 steps, consider breaking it into multiple Trail Maps. For example, instead of one massive “Renovate House” project, create separate trail maps for “Kitchen Renovation,” “Bathroom Renovation,” and “Landscaping.”

  4. Use the Backburner wisely. Not every idea needs to be acted on immediately. Put aspirational projects on the Backburner so they’re captured but not cluttering your active work. Review them periodically during your weekly review.

  5. Tags are your secret weapon. While contexts organize by area of life, tags organize by attribute. Use both together for powerful filtering. A task can be in the “Work” context but tagged #low-energy and #5-min—perfect for finding quick wins when you’re running low on steam.

  6. Block early, block often. If a step depends on someone else, block it immediately with a clear reason. This keeps your next steps list clean and actionable, and the “Waiting On” section ensures nothing falls through the cracks.

  7. Templates save more time than you think. Any process you do more than twice is a candidate for a template. The upfront investment of 10 minutes creating a template can save hours over time.

  8. Customize your theme. Step-By-Step To Done offers multiple themes and accent colors. Pick one that makes you want to open the app. A tool you enjoy using is a tool you’ll actually use.

  9. Use Super Search as your command palette. Press Ctrl+K and you can jump to any project, task, collection, or tag in seconds. It’s the fastest way to navigate a large system.

  10. Trust the system. The core philosophy of Step-By-Step To Done is simple: just do the next step. You don’t need to see the whole staircase—you just need to see the next step. Let the system hold the complexity so your mind can focus on execution.