A messy Windows productivity system is actually perfect – Computerworld

Browser bookmark bar as a scratchpad: I drag links I want to save for later right to the bookmarks bar — no need for extra tools. I’ve used that same setup for reminders, too, such as saving a bookmark named “Birthday on Wednesday” at the left side of the bookmarks bar so it’s always in my face. It’s like a digital sticky note, and I can delete it when I’m done. Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave — this works in any browser.

Controlled chaos for notes in OneNote: To capture article ideas and other raw writing-related inspirations, I jot them down in OneNote. I don’t worry much about organization. Instead, I make a new section for each month (like “March 2025”), dump notes into that monthly section, and move on with my day. To find the notes later, I can scroll through the monthly section or just use OneNote’s search feature. The key is that I can capture notes fast.

Microsoft To Do as a calendar: I use Microsoft’s tasks app, and I wish it integrated with a modern calendar app. After some digging, I decided to just use it as a calendar, anyway. I have a task list titled “Calendar” in Microsoft To Do, and it’s filled with important dates (appointments, birthdays, shows, and so on). I can quickly see a chronological list of all the events I have planned, and it’s integrated with the “Planned” view so I can see everything upcoming in one place — both tasks and calendar events. Microsoft To Do wasn’t meant for this — not at all — but it works for me.