The Task List That Captures Blockers, Not Just Tasks
Most to-do lists know two states: done and not done. This template knows four: Open, Checked, Due, and Can't Complete. That fourth state is the one that separates a task management system from a task accumulation system.
"Can't Complete" is an honest record of a task that is blocked by something outside your current control—a part that's on backorder, a repair that requires a tool you don't own, a decision that's waiting on someone else. When you mark a task Can't Complete and log the reason in the Flag Reason field, the task doesn't disappear from the list and it doesn't sit there silently pretending it's actionable. It is correctly categorized as waiting, and you move on to the tasks that actually are actionable.
The Flag system—"one", "two", and "Null"—provides a custom urgency marker independent of the Priority field. Some tasks are High Priority and currently blocked. Some are Low Priority and flagged because they have a deadline approaching that makes them more urgent than the Priority field reflects. Flag and Flag Reason together carry information that Priority alone cannot.
Effort, Time-to-Complete, and the GTD Context Fields
The @ and @@ prefix fields are GTD (Getting Things Done) context markers: @Location, @Time-to-Complete, @Effort (Easy, Average, Difficult), @Keywords, @@Resource (Person, Home, Work), and @@Resource Description. The @ convention signals that these are context filters rather than content fields—they describe the conditions under which the task is executable, not the task itself.
@Effort is the field that prevents context switching cost. When you have thirty minutes and moderate energy, filtering for Easy tasks returns the list of items you can actually complete in that window. Difficult tasks in the same database don't clutter the view—they're there when you have the time and cognitive resources to address them.
@@Resource distinguishes tasks that require another person, tasks you can do at home, and tasks that belong to a work context. Filtering by Person surfaces the tasks where you're waiting on someone or need to coordinate with them. Filtering by Home, cross-referenced against @Effort = Easy, gives you the home maintenance items that can be knocked out on a Saturday morning before anything else gets scheduled.
Materials Needed and the Photos That Replace Instructions
Materials Needed is the field that turns a task record into a shopping list item. A home repair task that requires a 1/2-inch drill bit, a tube of silicone caulk, and a 10-32 machine screw has those materials listed in the record. When you're standing in the hardware store aisle and you've forgotten the exact spec, the Memento record has it.
The two photo fields—Pic-1 and Pic-2—exist for tasks where visual context matters more than description. A leaking pipe under the sink that you've photographed from two angles is a task record that a plumber can look at before arriving at the house. A broken hinge on a cabinet is a task record where the photo communicates the repair needed more precisely than the Brief Desc field can in three words.
Keywords enable search across the full task list when neither Priority nor @Location narrows the field sufficiently. A task tagged "electrical" returns alongside other electrical tasks when you're doing electrical work and want to batch related tasks in the same work session.