Of Todoist and Tea: A sign off on 2020

2020 has been a whirlwind of a year and it's been hard on everyone, including myself, but I wanted to end 2020 on a positive note. That's why I wanted to share the small things that helped me get through 2020, the year as a whole, not just the pandemic. Some things are habits, and others are tools, but everything was helpful in some way to me, and hopefully to you too. Here are the little things that stood out in 2020, enjoy. 

Tea

Yes, you read that right, I'm talking about tea, the leaves you soak in water to make a delicious substance that can be enjoyed either boiling hot, chilled to a crisp, or somewhere in the middle. It started oddly during the very beginning of summer, May-June of 2020, I started wanting to find way to brew the iced tea I missed being able to buy, and whilst opening the microwave to make nachos I found a hidden tea stash I forgot was there. 

I originally started with nice berry teas that I soaked in icy water to make calming, tasty, and crisp iced teas for myself. Of course, it eventually ran out and I started to look into the box for more flavors, I found a box of black tea, green tea, some chi tea, and some specialty blends, although they were all teabags, I was still exited to find them in my pantry. Out of all of them green and black tea have really stuck with me.  

As time went on, I started to use a tea brewer more than individual tea bags, using plain leaves (no bags), this led me to develop a taste for green tea. I mean green tea with no creamer, sugar, or honey, plain and tasteful green tea. I would compare it to someone drinking black coffee, either way green tea has been one of my favorites of this year. Another favorite: English breakfast tea. 

A large bag of English Breakfast Tea

I tried earl grey, but it just wasn't the right blend for me (despite it being the favorite of legendary Starfleet captain and admiral Jean-Luc Picard) it had too much citrus for my taste along with my opinion that it wasn't great hot or cold. English breakfast is the perfect compromise between black tea and earl grey, it tastes great hot or cold and has a signature taste that just suits me. I recommend Davidsons as a great tea brand from Amazon, their packaging keeps the tea relatively fresh and their tea is top-notch.  

Pouring water into the individual brewer....

One last thing, having an individual brewer is invaluable when making tea, whether you have family who wants a different tea, or you just want a cup for yourself. I face this dilemma constantly when others are brewing Green tea and I just want a nice cup of English Breakfast tea, it also allows me to enjoy the convenience that bagged tea provided me but with the richer taste of pure leaf tea. Overall tea was one of my hidden joys from 2020 and whether it be pure leaf or teabags it's an enjoyable hobby that I hope to continue. 

Todoist

First some foreshadowing: Todoist is a productivity tool that allows you to make a list of tasks and order them, tag them, and organize them into projects. It also has several integrations that allow you to integrate services such as Google Calendar, Slack, and others to get assigned tasks into your daily schedule. That my version of a TL: DR for Todoist.  

 
 

Todoist itself is one of the most useful programs I've ever used, and it truly helped boost my productivity, here's how. I put my normal, content creation, and development tasks into my daily feed of tasks and order them in list of priority. I also keep projects such as my Development Workflow and content creation for any broader tasks I need to check into at any time. It really helped me organize my daily routine and keep content flowing on the blog, also while keeping myself accountable when I fail to complete an important task and/or group of tasks. 

It's a complete app that really brings the best of its category to the product such as kanban boards, and the best part it the diversity and quality of apps. I personally use the Android app on my phone and the Web app on my laptops and tablet, both apps have the same features and tools along with continuity with all the other platforms. The free tier is also enough for most people supplying features and tools that I would say are pro-level.  

 

My half-empty Dev Workflow Kanban board

 

I'll do a full, in-depth, review soon but I just wanted to say that the way having Todoist, notion, or any other productivity app to organize your life provides a structure I've never experienced before. I highly suggest using Todoist or any other program to help manage your tasks, it really made a difference for me in 2020 and it could mean a difference for you in 2021. 

Farewell 2020...

2020 was the year BenTechCode as a blog launched, I launched my YouTube channel, and I launched my Buy Me a Coffee page, the entire operation launched in 2020. I want to thank everyone who ever came to the blog, watched a video, read an article, and commented below. You, the viewers, made my 2020 special, and I appreciate every piece of feedback you've given. The feedback has helped make the blog and the channel grow. Whether it be a system that increases your productivity or a discovery of a new hobby we all discovered something in 2020, I hope we continue to discover in 2021.  

Farewell, 2020, see you never ;) 

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