Move your life over

A migration in stages, designed so you do not recreate your old system.

The scenario#

You have years of material in another app and want to move. The obvious approach, importing everything on day one, is the one that fails.

Week one: do not import anything#

Use NewTwos on new material only. Write onto your days, let carry-over run, and get a feel for it.

You cannot decide where old material should live until you understand days. Importing first means you will rebuild your old folder structure here, and then conclude NewTwos is a worse version of what you left. See coming from another app.

Week two: export, and read what does not survive#

Export from the old app, then read the import page for your source. Every import loses something, and knowing what in advance turns a disappointment into a decision. See importing: what comes across.

Take a NewTwos export too, so a bad import is trivially reversible. See export your things.

Week three: import selectively#

1. 1

   Import one folder or notebook

   Judge the result on twenty items, not two thousand.

2. 2

   Import the reference material

   The things you look up. This is what is worth bringing.

3. 3

   Retype the live to-dos

   There will be fewer than you think. Most of a long-lived task list was never going to happen.

Week four: clean up in bulk#

Use the Things view with filters, select in bulk, and move or delete. Ten minutes here beats months of clutter. See select many things at once.

Make it yours#

• Keep the old app installed for a month. There is no prize for deleting it, and it removes the pressure.
• Do not recreate your folder tree. If you find yourself making fifteen lists in an afternoon, stop.

What this looks like after a month#

Fewer lists than you had folders, most of your archive imported and rarely touched, and your actual work happening on your days.

Related#

• Coming from another app
• Importing: what comes across